The Alternative Factor
by Schnickledooger
Summary: AU Season 01. In a world that has co-existed with Digimon for the past twenty years, humans and their partners battle against the Virus type Nightmare Soldiers set on casting the world into darkness. Eight kids will help reshape the future.
1. Erroneous Zone

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Digimon. Toei Animation does.

**Summary:** AU Season 01. In a world that has co-existed with Digimon for the past twenty years, humans and their partners battle against the Virus type Nightmare Soldiers set on casting the world into darkness. Eight kids will help reshape the future.

**Title: The Alternative Factor**

**Ch.1. Erroneous Zone**

"Where did you find him?"

"Sector 12, sir."

"That section's restricted. What was he doing there?"

"He wouldn't say, sir, and I didn't have time to question him. The attack came almost immediately afterwards. But sir, here's an interesting fact: he's one of the eyewitnesses to the incident in Hikarigaoka four years ago."

"Is he now? That _is_ very interesting..."

Tai felt the scrutinous eyes of the captain fall upon him like a scorching wave. He kept his gaze fixed avidly on the table in front of him and jaw clenched firmly shut. They weren't going to get anything out of him.

Nevertheless, he tensed guiltily as a shadow fell over him.

"What were you doing in Sector 12, son? Tell me," the captain's voice ordered in a soft, coaxing manner.

Tai's mind raced backwards to earlier that day. It had started out like any other day: plain, ordinary, dull. He had woken up, ate breakfast, gone to school, and had stopped at the soccer field to play a brief game with his teammates.

Maybe everything had spiraled downward from that moment...

oOo

"Taichi-sempai!"

Tai turned around in time to catch a small, chestnut-haired, tanned-skinned kid before he ploughed face-first into his chest.

"Taichi-sempai, I worked on my balancing just like you taught me! Lookit!" the boy cried, juggling the soccer ball on one foot, before kicking it upwards and alternately bouncing it off one knee then the other. The boy's brown eyes peered up at him imploringly, waiting for praise.

A grin couldn't help sliding across Tai's face. Davis might be a bit of a brat sometimes, and followed him around like a lost puppy, but he was rather cute, even if he did cling to him like a limpet. He reminded him of Kari...

Tai firmly shut that train of thought out of his mind before he dwelled too much on it.

"That's great, Davis," he said, ruffling the boy's spiked head fondly. "If you have time, maybe we can work on practicing your aim when you kick."

"Wait, Taichi-sempai, I gotta show you somethin' first! Come on!" Davis cried excitedly, tugging on his shirt in an impatient manner.

Tai let himself be dragged with a bemused expression over to where Davis' duffel bag leaned against the bench on the courtside. The small boy rushed over, unzipped it, and pulled out...

Tai's breath caught in his throat and the air in his lungs seemed to freeze solid. The world was spinning crazily around him and he wanted to run away as far as possible, but he was held in place by the sight of the round, blue creature that Davis had both arms around snugly.

"This is Chibomon!" Davis said, beaming a grin that showed off the gap where his two front baby teeth had fallen out. "My class all went to Primary Village yesterday to meet our partners! I was just walking by and his egg hatched! For me! Isn't he the coolest?"

Chibomon's brown eyes bored into Tai's as if they _knew_, and for an instant, his vision blurred and was filled with the image of wide, red eyes instead.

"You should see my digivice!" Davis kept on talking, oblivious. "It just appeared! Right in my pocket! But I forgot it at home today."

Chibomon was gnawing on one of his partner's fingers.

_That's right,_ Tai thought faintly, _Digimon are always hungry..._

"Stop, that tickles!" Davis giggled, rummaging in his pockets for a treat, and coming up with a half-wrapped candy-bar, which he fed in pieces to Chibomon.

"I should go," Tai heard himself saying, feet backing away one small step at a time.

"Wait, don't you wanna hold Chibomon?" Davis asked, thrusting the small blue Digimon into Tai's face without warning.

Tai cried out in alarm, putting his hands out in front of him as a defensive reflex, and felt his fingers brush over the smooth surface that was Chibomon's skin.

A second alarmed cry split the air and Tai turned his head to see Davis struggling to keep a firm grasp on a wriggling Chibomon glowing with a strange, golden light. A rather familiar, golden light...

The light engulfed the Digimon, flared spectacularly, and then vanished completely, leaving behind a tiny, blue dragon-looking creature in the place Chibomon had been.

"Chibomon?" Davis asked worriedly, wondering what had happened.

"Davish!" exclaimed the little dragon, his brown eyes crinkling up happily. "My name's DemiVeemon!"

Davis was silent for moment. Then letting out an exhilarated whoop, he squeezed the Digimon to his chest in delight.

"You digivolved! You digivolved! Taichi-sempai, Chibomon digivolved on our second day together!"

Tai stood staring at the scene for several seconds, a restrained emotion prickling at the back of his throat, before he turned away and left without a word.

And for the first time since he could remember, Davis didn't notice his departure.

oOo

"What were you doing in Sector 12, son?" he heard the captain ask again.

Tai didn't answer. They couldn't keep him here for very long. He was a civilian and a kid. The most they could do was put him under surveillance for a few days, but he would be released from holding before then.

A long sigh fell upon his ears as the captain's shadow moved away from him.

"What does his Identification Card say?" the captain asked his subordinate.

"Taichi Kamiya, age 11, lives in Odaiba with his father, Susumu Kamiya, and his mother, Yuuko Kamiya. One of the eye-witnesses to the Hikarigaoka Incident along with his sister, Hikari Kamiya-"

"SHUT UP!"

The soldier broke off in mid-list looking a bit ashamed while the captain fixed a calculating gaze upon the boy who was glaring viciously at them as he trembled in a subdued rage.

Tai was breathing heavily, anger still coursing through his veins, and he hated, _hated_ the way he was being shot looks of pity.

"Where's your Digimon?" the captain inquired abruptly, changing the direction of the questions.

_Red eyes, red eyes, warm red eyes full of love..._

Tai said nothing.

"He's un-partnered, sir," the soldier supplied the information helpfully. "No digimon was ever submitted on record to being bonded with him."

"Eleven years old and still un-partnered?" the captain said, his eyes narrowing in consternation as they assessed the boy shrewdly. "That's very dangerous. You do realize un-partnered humans attract the Nightmare Soldiers' attention, don't you?"

Tai had fallen quiet once more.

"Brief me on what happened, soldier," the captain commanded.

"Yes, sir. It was nearing twilight and Guardromon and I had just taken over shift for that sector..."

The soldier's voice droned on and became a faint buzz in the background. The captain was listening intently all the while never taking his cool gaze off the boy sitting in rebellious silence in front of him.

Blue irises clashed with brown in a battle of wills.

Tai wondered if the captain could read minds. Unbidden, the memory of mere hours ago sprang forward and Tai tried to block out the images, but found himself sifting through them instead in an effort to see what had made him do such a reckless act such as sneaking into a restricted zone.

oOo

The picture of Davis and DemiVeemon, of human and Digimon, reveling in the surge of a newly-formed bond branded itself into Tai's brain as he trudged home and a raw patch over his heart seared most painfully.

Shades of blue and purple were stemming on the horizon and shadows grew and crept along the ground, stirring at the approach of night. Tai lifted his head to view the stars twinkling in the sky above... and one fell down—an orange-gold streak of light plummeted down to the soil that was Sector 12.

He could see the glow where it had crashed: a red-hot light shining gold at the edges illuminating from behind the decrepit, boarded-off buildings in a pulsating rhythm.

_The room glowed with an eerie red light and his sister stood in front of the computer staring transfixed as a shimmering oval-shape melted from the screen—an egg—and around them electrical devices went haywire as the air crackled with a powerful energy._

Tai didn't hesitate. In the split instant after he saw the star or whatever it was that had fallen and caused the red light to flare up, he tore straight toward it, crossing over the restrictive barriers without a second thought, running in a mad dash through the crunched-up gravel and debris of the destroyed city block, heedless of his surroundings, not stopping until he had come to it: a huge, gaping crater in the ground and a square marble slab, heat radiating off it in wisps of smoky steam, and there was an odd symbol carved into the stone...

A hand clapped him firmly on the shoulder and spun him around. He found himself staring face to face with a young man in the green of a Self-Defense Forces' uniform looking almost as relieved and startled as he was.

Behind him, a little ways off, the soldier's Digimon, a Guardromon, relaxed his posture from attack mode to at-ease.

"You—you're just a kid," the soldier sputtered before regaining composing. "State your name and purpose here, civilian."

Tai supposed the soldier was some kind of idiot. Wasn't it clear enough why he was here? There was a giant hole in the ground not three feet from them and if he had arrived here so quickly, hadn't he also seen the object fall from the sky? Couldn't he see the red glow flickering about them?

The soldier took Tai's silence while he thought these things as a refusal to willingly oblige. Snatching off the Identification Card from where it hung from around Tai's neck, he threw it to Guardromon.

"Do a background check on his name," he ordered, crossing his arms over his chest and doing his best job to appear intimidating.

All it did was make him look arrogant. The guy was probably only five or six years older than Tai, most likely on the verge of exiting out of his teenage years. Light-brown hair hung over his green eyes that warily studied Tai's every movement from behind the rims of his glasses.

"Taichi Kamiya," Guardromon spoke up as he computed the number from the Identification Card into his memory banks and pulled up a file. "11 years, attends Odaiba Elementary, guardians: Susumu and Yuuko Kamiya. One of the surviving eye-witnesses of the Hikarigoka Incident-"

"What!"

The exclamation had come from the young soldier. He was gazing at Tai now horrified and then there was that awkward moment where people who discovered that tidbit about his past were first shocked and tried to find words of comfort to say only nothing ever came to mind.

But something did come out of the darkness from the deserted buildings.

"WATCH OUT!" Guardromon gave a warning cry, propelling himself forward, knocking the two humans to the ground, and using his body as a shield against the dagger-like claws that inflicted deep, deadly gashes into his frame, tearing strips of metal off with resounding shrieks as they withdrew.

A terrible, screeching roar sounded throughout the air and the inside of Tai's skull vibrated harshly. He was pinned to the rocky ground beneath the weight of the soldier who was in the same predicament because of Guardromon's substantial mass pressing down heavily on his back, and it was difficult to breathe.

Tai had a rather observant view of the sky above given the fact that he was unable to turn his head in either direction. The glowing red light about them contrasted with the blackness that was night and it seemed for a moment that the world was wreathed in flames.

A dragon head with four crimson eyes towered over them; ragged wings with holes through them, long, sinewy arms with skeleton heads on the shoulders and curved, red talons on its front claws, a whip-like tail and scales of shiny black decorated with a criss-cross row of stitching etched all over its body. A Devidramon.

"Shit, its one of the Nightmare Soldiers!" the young man cried once he had gotten a good glimpse of the foe. In their close proximity, Tai could feel the young man's heart beating wildly in his ribcage. "Don't look at its eyes!"

But Tai found himself drowning in the liquid pool that was the red of Devidramon's eyes, paralyzed and unable to move.

Red. The color smeared vividly across his vision, obscuring everything else, until all Tai saw and thought was,_ red_. Red like the glowing light about them. Red like fire. Red like blood. Red like—

Something hard smacked across his face, breaking him out of his dazed state of mind and dragging him back to reality roughly.

"Snap out of it, kid! Come on, he's giving us time to get out of here!" the soldier yelled at him, grabbing him by the wrist and hauling him to his feet, and Tai dimly realized that Guardromon was engaging the Devidramon in battle, firing whistling missiles from launchpads in his forearms.

He was being pulled away from the fighting, but Tai dug his heels firmly into the ground in resistance. He couldn't leave that marble slab behind, whatever it was. He wanted to touch it, run his fingertips over the in grooved markings—it was like the spot on his back that itched but he couldn't quite reach. It was an annoying but irresistible urge that would not go on denied.

"Dammit, do you have a death wish or something? Move!" the soldier ordered yanking on Tai's arm forcefully.

And from out of the chaos came yet another black dragon-type Digimon with four crimson eyes blocking their escape route.

"There's two of them!" the soldier exclaimed in disbelief, pushing Tai behind him defensively and barking into his communicator. "Alerting all units, send for backup in Sector 12! Two Champion-level Nightmare Soldiers: Devidramon! Repeat, send for back up in Sector12!"

Guardromon was still locked in battle with the first Devidramon and struggling simply to avoid taking another hit that might put him out of commission permanently. He let out a distressed cry at the sight of his partner facing down rows of jagged teeth that was the new enemy, unable to come to his aid.

But the soldier wasn't completely unarmed. Whipping out a slim, silver gun, he fired several rounds of what looked like white-hot orbs of light into the torso of Devidramon, cursing as they only seemed to momentarily stun the Digimon, before it shook its head to dispel the effects and blasted beams of crimson light from its eyes at the two human targets.

Tai felt a hand close on the back of his shirt collar and toss him bodily aside. He hit the ground roughly, skinning his knees upon impact, and his were ringing with the sounds of the Digimons' battle. Scrambling up on all fours, he looked around for the young soldier and saw him lying a few feet away motionless, a trickle of blood sliding down his forehead...

_Smoke and fumes choked his throat and blurred his vision. Shrapnel whizzed through the air and chunks of buildings crumbled down around him. The earth beneath his feet shuddered and heaved as if coming awake from a deep slumber. He stumbled about blindly searching, calling frantically, and faintly above the explosions he thought he could hear the familiar sound of a shrill whistle being blown._

The Devidramon roared mightily, drawing back its clawed arm for the finishing blow upon the hapless soldier's body. Tai saw the silver gun just within a hands length, having been knocked out of the soldier's grasp. Throwing himself forward, Tai snatched it up, took aim and shot. White orbs of light slammed into the Devidramon's chest freezing it in place. Knowing he had only seconds, Tai rushed over to where the soldier lay, grabbed him under the armpits and tried to drag him away, but he was too heavy.

Tai's limbs trembled from exhaustion and fear, but he didn't desert the young man. He wouldn't run away this time. No, not again, not ever again...

Then Guardromon was beside them, having abandoned the first Devidramon, and calling his partner's name in concern, placing a metal-gloved hand to the soldier's head where Tai was cradling it.

The two Devidramon attacked simultaneously.

Guardromon erupted in a golden radiance stemming from a bluish-green device clipped onto the soldier's belt.

_"Gatling Attack!" _came the war cry before the light had even finished dispersing.

Twin homing missiles flew forward and tore through the Devidramons' stomachs like they were tissue paper. Tai watched in a fascinated horror as holes appeared and began eating their hosts' from the inside up until they were nothing but flecks of black data swirling in the air.

A tall, android figure emerged from the light and stepped in front of him, most of his body encased in a protective, shining silver armor, though in some places, he could see exposed nerves and muscles showing through. His humanoid head was covered in a metal skeleton helmet that covered half his face and he fixed his one eye on the boy staring at him in awe.

"Quickly, the X-VD2000," the android spoke in a monotone voice, holding out a mechanical hand expectantly.

Tai glanced about for something, even though he had no idea what an X-VD2000 was. The only thing that looked out of place was a white, rectangular canister on the soldier's belt alongside his digivice.

"Is this it?" Tai asked unclipping it and handing it over to Guardromon's evolved form.

"Affirmative," the android Digimon said, closing his hand over it, Then turning to the storm of data, which was all that remained of the two Devidramon, he opened the lid and held the canister up high, seeming to release a vacuum from within that sucked up the leftover data. Then sealing the lid back on, he walked back over the two humans in a purposeful stride.

Watching him, Tai couldn't stoke down the admiration welling up... that is until he felt the sting of an electrical shock to his neck and numbness began tingling down his body, and he realized that the Digimon had just freaking _nerve-pinched_ him.

Slumping forward over the soldier, Tai only time to let out an indignant squawk before his muscles became limp and a fog swamped his brain. The last coherent thought before darkness overtook him was that he still hadn't gotten a close-up look at the marble slab that had fell from the sky.

oOo

Tai had woken up in an infirmary at an undisclosed location. An indigo-haired young man around the same age as the soldier appeared to be in charge and attended to his scrapes and bruises. He wouldn't answer any of Tai's questions as to where he was or demands to be let go. He only smiled at him from behind square-framed glasses and said the captain wanted a few words with him first.

Then Tai had found himself escorted down numerous corridors by the same soldier from earlier—now completely recovered and looking no worse for wear except for a wrapped bandage around his head. He then found himself in a room with nothing but a table and chairs and was thenceforth hounded relentlessly by this afore-mentioned captain until he couldn't take it any more.

"You have no right to keep me here," he told the man finally cracking. "I'm just an innocent by-stander. I went into Sector 12 on a dare and was caught. I've learned my lesson, so let me go and put me under surveillance to make sure I don't do anything reckless like that again."

"Contrary to what you may think, we do have a right to keep you in custody for forty-eight hours without question," the captain said coolly. "Any civilian caught up in a Nightmare Soldier attack has our utmost attention. And you, Mr. Kamiya, an un-partnered human with no Digimon, are a wild card that we can't allow to go unsupervised anymore."

"What do you mean?" Tai asked, a sense of dread washing over him.

"Preparations will be made to find you a suitable partner," the captain informed him. "I'm surprised your school hasn't brought this issue to Headquarters before. I suppose your involvement in the Hikarigaoka Incident four years ago made them sympathetic toward anything unpleasant in your life."

"I don't want another partner!" Tai burst out, slamming his fists on the table angrily.

_"Another, _Mr. Kamiya?" the captain said softly, arching one eyebrow.

Tai set his mouth in a firm line as he realized his mistake too late and retreated back into silence.

Tai felt like a bug under a magnifying glass as the captain assessed him with blue eyes glinting in a perceptive gaze, and he fought back the urge to squirm.

"Tell me, did you find anything... _interesting_ in Sector 12?" the captain asked in a casual manner.

Tai jerked involuntarily at those words. He couldn't possibly be referring to...

The captain smiled like he had won a battle Tai hadn't even been aware he was fighting. Turning to face the soldier who had been present during the interrogation, he seemed to really see him for the first time.

"You're a bit young to be in the Self-Defense Forces, aren't you?" he asked skeptically.

The soldier appeared almost affronted. "I'm seventeen, sir! Just turned so last month and enlisted!"

"Hmmm," the captain frowned, obviously still not liking the soldier's age. "Well, nevertheless, you've done a fine job protecting yourself and Mr. Kamiya today as well as the destruction and containment of two Nightmare Soldiers. I hear your Digimon evolved to Ultimate?"

"Yes, sir. Andromon," the soldier said, his face a bright, happy pink.

"Good, good. We'll need all the higher-levels we can get if we want to defeat these Nightmare Soldiers," the captain said, clapping the soldier on the shoulder. "I'll recommend you for Corporal, Mr...?"

"Inoue, sir. Mantarou Inoue," the soldier stated.

"You are relieved, Private Inoue. Go down to the mess hall and get some nourishment."

"Yes, Captain Ishida, sir!" Mantarou saluted vigorously.

Tai watched the soldier do an abrupt turn and exit the room and then he was alone with the captain.

The man said nothing for several minutes, nor did he look at the other room's occupant, only tapped twitching fingers against the table as if he were contemplating something.

Tai hoped his slip-up from earlier had been forgotten, but he doubted that.

"A word of advice, Mr. Kamiya," Captain Ishida finally said. "If you are ever in a situation where you are given the option to be destroyed or join forces with the enemy, I highly recommend the former. Being a mindless slave is a horrible fate, but being a slave of your own free will because you believe in their cause is even worse. At least in death, you'll be free."

Tai blinked confused, not understanding the relevance of this information to all that happened. The Devidramon had been intent on killing not capturing.

"You do know why the Nightmare Soldiers insist on attacking the real world and its inhabitants, don't you?" the captain inquired.

Tai scoffed. "Who doesn't? The Digital World merged with the real one almost twenty years ago. The Digimon were mistaken for aliens and monsters at first and a war broke out, before both sides decided on a peace devised of partnering every human to a Digimon. Virus types didn't like the idea because they thought humans an inferior species and because so many Digimon had been killed. They want to cast both worlds into darkness and dominate all things: humans, Vaccine and Data types because Viruses are made up of pure evil!"

"Is that what you humans are teaching your young in schools?" a new voice spoke up suddenly.

Tai started violently at the sight of the newcomer into the room.

He wore a ragged dark blue cape with a matching steeple hat with a skull head sewn in the front. Brown cloth boots with golden crescent moons encased his feet. A yellow jumpsuit with zippers lined in red pockets covered his upper and lower half, and he gripped a staff that faintly resembled the sun in brown-gloved hands.

The cape covered his mouth, but vibrant blue eyes peered out from underneath stringy light brown bangs.

He was short in stature. About a head shorter than Tai.

He was a Digimon.

He was...

"Virus!" Tai shouted accusingly jumping up from his seat.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" the Digimon inquired quizzically, eyebrows disappearing up into his bangs in mock surprise.

"Mr. Kamiya, I'd like you to meet my partner, Wizardmon," Captain Ishida said, a trace of faint amusement in his voice. "He's a Data type."

Tai found himself staring part abashed and part in disbelief. "But he looks..."

"Evil?" Wizardmon suggested dryly.

_Similar to another Digimon I saw,_ Tai thought.

Under the rim of his steeple hat, Wizardmon's blue eyes narrowed.

"Let this be a lesson then: never judge a book by its cover—or Digimon for that matter," Captain Ishida said. "And you should know, since you'll be staying with the Self-Defense Forces for some time, that there are Virus types with human partners. It's rare, but they do exist. In fact, some Virus types aren't what you expect at all."

One thing in particular had stood out the most in that sentence for Tai though.

"Staying here? I'm not staying here! I'm going home!" Tai protested. "I'm a kid and my parents-"

"Your parents have already been informed of your whereabouts and will be arriving shortly," Captain Ishida said. "We can't allow to you leave until you and your new partner form a bond."

"I told you I don't want—" Tai cut himself off before he was caught in the same trap as before.

The captain looked almost disappointed.

Tai simmered in a helpless fury.

"Wizardmon, if you would be so kind as to escort our young guest to Section B-11," the captain said.

"Not to his quarters, Hiroaki?" Wizardmon asked appearing surprised for real.

"No, I think he'll find he has a lot in common with some people there," Captain Ishida said loftily. "We want him to feel comfortable, after all."

Tai found he had no other choice but to follow Wizardmon if he wanted to get out of this room.

"Oh, Mr. Kamiya," Captain Ishida called right before they crossed over the threshold. The man's tone was dead serious now. "Losing your partner can drive you insane. The madness will cause you to act upon irrational impulses that can prove to be fatal. I highly suggest you remember that."

The doors closed with hiss and Tai was left to wonder exactly how much the captain knew and what path his life had turned on. He wasn't sure he liked it.

_To Be Continued..._

**A/N:** This fic sprung from me wondering a lot of "what-if's" lately. There are a lot of scenarios in Digimon that could have gone differently if the series of events that led it them had been altered slightly. Thus, think on the hints buried in the first chapter here. What if the Hikarigaoki Incident (aka Highton View Terrace) had been much more deadly and destructive than just a mere overpass being blown up? What if gateways to the Digital World had been opened years earlier cultivating a different society in which the Digidestined were brought up in, where it is normal for every human to have a partner and the ones who don't are the odd ones out?

The plot bunny that spurred this fic on was probably due to me watching too much Star Trek:TOS and the new Star Trek movie where history has been altered and a different reality has been formed. Even the title, "The Alternative Factor" is the name of a ST episode where a portal to a mirror universe has been ripped open. There's no time travel in this fic though. Think of the setting I've shown here as an alternate universe, but Season 01 key events are about to occur nonetheless.

Japanese Self Defense Forces are real. They were formed after World War 2. They maintain a purely self-defense oriented policy and engage in international peacekeeping operations. If you want to learn more, Wikipedia it. But this military power would be most likely the one keeping the Nightmare Soldiers at bay and ensuring the safety of civilians. (I hope I used the ranks correctly).

Rereading all I wrote, I realize this fic is a lot darker than I intended and Tai seems a little OOC. But do realize this isn't the same Tai that we all know. Circumstances have been set into motion that have clipped and tamed our young leader's wings so to speak. But never fear, he'll soon grow into a role more familiar as time progresses. And yes, we will see all the kids by the time this fic is ended. Even the 02 crowd has some chibi cameos (though I'm planning a sequel for them in this universe later). I've decided I'm still using the dub names for the kids, but the adults will have their Japanese names (simply because some were never given any in the English version). And I'm not sure where to put this tidbit so I'll just say it here: no, it wasn't a fluke or mistake on my part that Chibomon digivolved without the presence of a digivice. That's important later in the storyline.

So next chapter: who awaits Tai in B-11 and what has become of the marble slab? What is it exactly? Any guesses? Will we find out what happened at the Hikarigaoka Incident four years ago? What are the silver gun and X-VD2000?

I hope you have enjoyed reading this! Please review and share your thoughts. It's the only reward a fanfic author gets. If you have any questions just ask, and I'll try to answer to the best of my capabilities without giving anything away. Thank you!^^


	2. The Slab From the Sky

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Digimon. Toei Animation does.

**Summary:** AU Season 01. In a world that has co-existed with Digimon for the past twenty years, humans and their partners battle against the Virus type Nightmare Soldiers set on casting the world into darkness. Eight kids will help reshape the future.

**Title: The Alternative Factor**

**Ch.2. The Slab From the Sky **

Tai grudgingly followed Wizardmon down the corridors of the facility he now knew to be a Self-Defense Forces base. In the span of less than twenty-four hours his world had been turned upside down. He was being held against his will and would be forced into a partnership with a Digimon who hadn't chosen him of its own volition. It was shameful and embarrassing in society to have to form a bond in that manner. Humans like that, for whom an egg never hatched or a Digimon had never appeared before, were looked down upon in disgrace and thought to have something wrong with them—something that seemed to attract Nightmare Soldiers and were vulnerable to becoming mindless slaves of the enemy.

Tai understood why the captain saw him as a dangerous liability, but that didn't mean he agreed with his logic. He was _not_ going to form a bond with whatever Digimon they dug up for him no matter what the consequences. And as soon as the opportunity presented itself, he was going to sneak away and go back to Sector 12 to take another look inside that crater.

"The contents within have already been excavated and moved to a safe location," Wizardmon said from ahead. "And I assure you, it is quite impossible to sneak away or into a Self-Defense Forces base. Your plan is ill-thought out and unnaturally reckless."

Tai froze in place with a jolt. "You—you can read minds!" he exclaimed.

"I can if I so choose to," Wizardmon admitted never once looking behind him as he continued to walk forward. "However it is not in my nature to invade another being's privacy without due cause. You are simply broadcasting your thoughts in a loud enough manner that they pass right through my shields. It's like someone walking pass a closed door shouting at the top of their lungs. I can't help but overhear it."

Tai was growing more irritated by the second. Well, so much for the element of surprise on getting past these guys then.

"Fine!" he snapped. "Can you help but overhear _this_?"

He stood there for a short space of time thinking the nastiest insults he could come up with about Wizardmon. Unfortunately, the most degrading that came to his mind was something along the lines of "witchy pony-tailed midget".

Wizardmon stopped abruptly in his tracks and Tai wondered a bit perturbed if it had been wise to goad a Digimon.

"Tell me, human, this Digimon you saw that bore a resemblance to me—what did he look like?" was Wizardmon's unexpected inquiry.

"What?" Tai asked baffled at this change of conversation.

"Earlier in the Interrogation Room, you thought I was '_similar to another Digimon' _you had seen. I assume that's why you started so violently at my appearance—not only because you inferred I was a Virus type. I would very much be interested in knowing what they looked like," Wizardmon said.

Tai didn't question the reason why.

_Blue eyes glittered with malice as mocking laughter pealed out madly over the wrecked and rubble-strewn streets. The night blazed red with hellish fires over a ruined city square and the sky was ripped in half._

_In the space of a heartbeat, the two people he cared about the most were gone._

"I was mistaken," Tai said quietly.

"I see," Wizardmon stated gazing at him with a placid expression before turning and resuming pace.

Wizardmon could read minds.

Tai found he didn't have the energy to care anymore.

They remained in silence for the remainder of the walk until they reached their intended destination.

"B-11," Wizardmon said, pushing a button on the wall panel and the doors slid open to reveal a recreation room of some sort.

There were several tables with numerous half-constructed projects and papers littering their surfaces. A row of empty computer monitors lined the back wall and the room was otherwise empty except for a small boy playing with some toys on the floor.

He jumped as soon as he heard the doors open and a guilty look flashed across his face. "Wizardmon!" he cried in surprise.

"Where is your brother?" Wizardmon asked in a displeased tone.

"Uh, he ah…" the small boy stuttered. Obviously lying was not his specialty. "He's not here."

"Am I correct in assuming that he and young Kido have taken it upon themselves to visit the Digital World expressively disregarding your father's orders not to go there without supervision?" Wizardmon inquired.

"No, they would never do that!" the boy exclaimed aghast. "They took their Digimon with them."

"I believe 'Champion-level or higher' was implied in Hiroaki's orders even if it was never vocalized, none of which your partners are," Wizardmon stated. "How did they manage to override the block set on the gateway?"

The small boy fidgeted in a nervous fashion and tugged his gigantic, green puffy hat down over his eyes.

"Ah, yes, the computer technicians convened here today to hold their conference with the general," Wizardmon said as if remembering. "Izumi must have come with his parents. Has he with gone to the Digital World also?"

"No." Now the small boy appeared to be sulking. In any case, his lower lip was sticking out in a pout. "Matt told him to stay behind and watch me to make sure I wouldn't follow them."

"He appears to be lacking in his ordained duties," Wizardmon said curtly.

Tai wondered if Wizardmon had just attempted a joke. It came out more like dry sarcasm.

"He said he wanted to check out the cargo hold," the boy explained. "He was curious about what was underneath the big tarp brought in earlier. So he put the block back on the gateway while he went off to look."

"This is a Self-Defense Forces military base, not a playground," Wizardmon said sounding annoyed. "I've told Hiroaki a hundred times this is no place for children, but he insists it is the safest place from Nightmare Soldiers' attacks. In the meantime, guess who gets granted the role of babysitter?"

"Aw, but we love you, Wizardmon. You're the best!" the small boy declared brightly, looking for a moment like he would attach himself to one of the Digimon's limbs in a hug.

"Nonsense," Wizardmon said waving his staff to the side as if brushing the statement off, although two tell-tale pink splotches had appeared in the skin beneath his eyes. "I shall be informing Hiroaki about his sons and friends' little misdemeanors here today, right after I fetch Mr. Izumi from the cargo hold. It is vital what lies under that tarp not to be disturbed. In the meantime, where's Tokomon?"

Tai watched in fascination as the boy's giant green, mushroom hat began wriggling and twisting this way and that as if it were alive until a small white creature poked its face out from underneath the material and blinked beady black button eyes at them.

"Hello!" it chirped, displaying a mouth full of double rows of razor sharp teeth in a smile.

"Please do hurry and digivolve soon, Tokomon," Wizardmon said on his way out. "I am unsure much longer I can manage playing nursemaid to adolescent delinquents."

It was when the doors had closed behind him that Tai realized in the Digimon's haste that Wizardmon had neglected to introduce the two to each other and so now he had a captive audience consisting of one small, short-legged kid around Davis' age and a digital piglet staring at him.

"My name's T.K. and this is Tokomon," the small boy finally said pointing to his partner.

"Tai," Tai replied, running his eyes over the kid speculatively. So he was Captain Ishida's son was he? He must take after his mother then because his hair was several shades lighter than the captain's, peaking out from under his hat in untidy golden tufts, and his eyes were baby blue in contrast to his father's darker irises. However, the family resemblance was there along with an air of trusting friendliness with no ulterior motives as had been the case with the captain.

"Cool goggles," T.K. said gazing at them in admiration where they sat conspicuously atop Tai's head.

Tai couldn't help the grin that broke out over his face. He thought he might like this kid. He had good taste.

"Nice hat," he replied, returning the compliment, even if he did think the head accessory was ridiculously large for so small a boy.

T.K. giggled and beamed proudly.

Then Tokomon ruined the good mood by piping up and asking, "Where's your Digimon?"

Tai felt the grin slide off his face. "Don't have one," he stated curtly.

"Oooh," T.K. breathed, his blue eyes widening in wonderment.

Usually, when others discovered he had no partner, he was treated like an outcast. Strangely enough, Tai got the vibes that the kid was more excited by this information than repulsed. In fact, the boy was now exchanging knowing looks with his partner in a manner that suggested he understood why Tai was here at section B-11 more than he did.

Before Tai could press for answers though, the doors to the room slid open again and a spiky red-haired boy rushed through flailing his arms wildly.

"Prodigous!" he exclaimed breathlessly. "It's another, T.K.! They brought in another with the same type of markings as the ones before! It's got these weird ovular and triangular abrasions and-" He broke off mid-speech when he noticed the room had acquired an extra occupant in his absence. "Ah, hello," he said awkwardly.

"Izzy, wait for me!" squeaked a cylinder-shaped pink blob hopping after the boy as fast as its little body was able. He entered mere seconds before the doors closed and slammed into the back of his partner's leg.

The red-haired boy stood frozen in place very much like a deer caught in headlights as well as a flustered visage upon his face. He was biting his lower lip as if to restrain himself from letting the words he so badly wanted to share from tumbling out unto unwanted ears.

"This is Tai," T.K. spoke up first, filling in the uncomfortable silence. "Wizardmon brought him. He doesn't have a partner."

Izzy's eyes rounded like saucers as if he had just mentally connected the dots to something important.

Tai was growing frustrated that everyone seemed to be getting the bigger picture except for him.

"Look, I've been attacked by two Devidramon, nerve-pinched by an Andromon, interrogated by the captain, your dear old dad, for _hours_," Tai said motioning to T.K, "who very heavily implied I wasn't going to be leaving here anytime soon, had my mind read like a it was the latest gossip column by a magician-wannabe Digimon, and stuffed into this room with you guys with no explanation. I think I deserve some answers!"

Tai saw Izzy open his mouth—hopefully in preparation to expound—and then a blinking yellow light went off on one of the computer monitors and began sharply beeping.

"Oh my god, Matt and Joe!" Izzy exclaimed in horror. "I forgot about them!"

Rushing over to the computer, his hands fairly flew over the buttons and keyboard until a square, black-framed box popped up on the screen glittering with a myriad of colors. There was a bright flash of light and then four figures, two-human-shaped and two distinctly not, shot out and landed in a dog-pile on the floor.

"What took you so long?" one of the human figures asked as he untangled himself from the pile-up.

"Sorry, I got side-tracked," Izzy admitted sheepishly.

"Side-tracked—we've been waiting on the other side for fifteen minutes!" the boy yelled flushing an angry red all the way to the roots of his blond hair. His eyes were flashing an accusing stormy blue. "I thought the base was being attacked!"

"You could show a little more gratitude, Matt," Izzy said with a slight furrowing of his eyebrows. "I did hack into the system to open the gateway after all, knowing full well how dangerous it was for you to go to the Digital World on some stupid fool's expedition—"

"It's not stupid and I'm not a fool!" Matt proclaimed.

"No, you're just a kid who thinks vengeance will make things better," Izzy replied.

The statement seemed to strike a sore spot with the boy for he started forward in a heated manner only to be pulled back by the wrist by the other human who had exited from the portal with him.

"Leave it, Matt. You know he's right. Even if you had come across one of the Nightmare Soldiers there, you wouldn't have been able to do anything. Tsunomon's only an In-Training Digimon. He's no match for even a Rookie."

"If that's the way you really feel then _why_ did you come along with me?" Matt demanded.

His companion, a tall, gangly, indigo-haired boy, pushed his square-framed glasses up the bridge of his nose matter-of-factly and opened the medical satchel that was strapped around his chest. "I came with you to ensure your safety," he confessed without shame, pulling out a long, cylindrical syringe filled with a clear liquid.

"You were planning to _sedate_ me?" Matt cried sounding betrayed.

"Only if there was trouble," the boy declared with a shrug. "Luckily we encountered none."

"So that's why you didn't protest that much when I asked you to open the gate," Matt said to Izzy. "You were in on this too!"

Izzy had a smug grin hidden in the left-hand corner of his mouth.

"I can't—I can't believe you—both of you!" Matt sputtered furiously, whirling on the two Digimon who were his and the other boy's partners. "Did you know about this also?"

"No, Matt, I swear I had no idea!" a round, orange-furred Digimon with a sharp, metallic horn on his head denied vehemently.

The other though, a grey-skinned Digimon with two front flippers and a crest of orange hair sprouting from its head, let out a gleeful laugh as it hovered in mid-air.

"Bukamon!" the indigo-haired boy said reproachfully.

"What? It's funny! He actually thought we could take on Nightmare Soldiers at our level? Hahaha!" Bukamon chortled doing several belly-rolls in the air.

The boy called Matt looked mad enough to hurt something. His hands were clenched tight into balled fists at his side where a familiar-looking silver gun and white canister hung from his belt.

Tai supposed he must have gasped or emitted some sort of noise for everyone's attention snapped to him a moment later at the same time.

"Who is that?" Matt demanded, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"_That_ is called Tai," Tai snapped waspishly.

"What is he doing here?" Matt pressed, ignoring him and turning to Izzy for an answer.

"Matt! Matt! Guess what?" T.K. shouted running up to him excitedly. "Tai doesn't have a partner either!"

Matt's eyebrows flew upwards in surprise for the briefest of seconds at this before crashing down in a furrow over his brow again. "You have _got_ to be kidding," he scoffed, wrinkling his nose at Tai like a particularly repugnant odor lingered about him.

"A tarp was brought in while you were in the Digital World," Izzy put in quietly. "They've found another marble slab. I've seen it."

"What?"

This time it was Tai who was caught by surprise. His feet were moving before his brain had sent the message to them and his hands were snagged in Izzy's orange over shirt.

"Where is it? Take me to it!" he ordered shaking the boy roughly.

He couldn't explain it. This unquenchable urge to see—to touch—the marble slab that had fallen from the sky. It just was there, brewing under his skin, burning in his veins like fire every second the desire went unfulfilled.

Someone had him by the arms and was dragging him backwards. His grip on Izzy's shirt was ripped away. Tai struggled violently trying to regain it back.

"Calm down or it will be you that Joe sedates," Izzy warned him.

Tai finally halted his wild thrashing and went still, his chest heaving in exertion. "What's going on?" he demanded. "You all seem to know. Why am I here, what is that marble slab, and why do I feel the compulsion to touch it or I'll go mad?"

"So it is for you then," Izzy said assessing him with a curious gaze. "I wonder how many of them there are exactly."

A temple in Tai's head throbbed painfully like a severed nerve and a patch of skin across his chest above his heart flared as if salt had been poured into a raw wound. From under the sealed doors, he could see a flicker of glowing red light, beckoning, calling, tugging at his heartstrings persistently, impatiently... and yet the others did not appear to notice this.

_Losing your partner can drive you insane,_ Captain Ishida's voice floated back to him.

Tai felt his knees buckle as the world tipped dizzyingly and the boy called Joe caught him as he slumped over limply.

"I think... I think I'm going crazy," Tai admitted shivering, feeling a cold sweat break out across his forehead.

"This is bad, guys," he heard Joe's voice say over his head. "He's been in too close proximity to it and hasn't touched it yet. I'm more amazed he's lasted this long than I am at the sheer idiocy at the ones who brought it in and didn't allow him access to it at once."

"Are you calling my dad an idiot?"

"Cool it, Matt. He had to be certain it was meant for Tai first. You remember what happened to last person who touched a marble slab that turned out not to be theirs? They got blasted backwards into the wall; the skin off their hands seared straight off and they were in coma for two weeks!"

The voices became a buzz around his head, distant and dim…

_Tai tried his best to follow the sound of the whistle blowing but it was hard. There was too much noise, too much explosions. He was caught in a raging maelstrom of chaos and overhead, power lines sent down a shower of sparks as they threatened to snap from their conduits under the weight of concrete slabs having fallen on the wires._

_He was frightened, so frightened, but the whistle kept on blowing in a tireless, relentless manner and he knew he had to make it because both of them were out there waiting for him..._

Waiting for him—the marble slab was waiting for him...

He straightened up and steadied himself on his feet, only swaying from a slight case of vertigo and made his way across the floor to the doors where the red light was filtering in from.

"Where are you going?" he heard Izzy's voice ask.

"Show me where the cargo hold is," Tai said his mind set in determination.

oOo

Izzy, for all the hacking into databases and breaking and entering into restricted military sections it was implied he had done, was getting paranoid and jittery.

"We shouldn't be here. We're not allowed," he protested as he led the group across the metal catwalk and down the stairway that led to the storage space below.

"That didn't seem to stop you before, did it?" Joe murmured.

"Wizardmon caught me on my way back," Izzy admitted. "He said there would be severe consequences if any one of us ever went into off-limit areas again. He mentioned something about turning my laptop into pineapple slush and feeding it to Tokomon."

"Yum!" Tokomon cried from his perch atop T.K.'s head, smacking his lips.

"I'm sure emergencies are excluded in this order," Joe said, trying to allay his friend's fear for his most precious possession.

"He also mentioned turning your glasses into a rubber chew toy for Bukamon to play with and cleaning toiletries until we're thirty-five," Izzy said dryly.

"Maybe we should head back," Joe said skittering to a worried halt.

Tai continued forward darting fleeting furtive glances at the boy called Matt from the corner of his eye. He was definitely the captain's other son, T.K.'s older brother. He too had blonde hair and blue eyes, though they were several shades darker than his brother's. Of the two, he resembled his father the most closely, right down to the style in which he wore his hair. Yet he seemed to be the more withdrawn person in his family. Apart from his brief show of emotion earlier, he had said not a word ever since they had left section B-11. He hadn't even opened his mouth to say if he was for or against the illegal act they were committing. Since he had come along with them, any normal person would have thought he agreed with what they were doing, however Tai could notably feel the icy vibes rolling off the boy aimed directly at him. It wasn't so much as hostile as it was like being given the cold shoulder, only it was more of a blizzard in Matt's case. The tension gathered so thick between them as they walked alongside each other in silence, one could cut it with a knife.

Tai felt a surge of irritation swell up within him. Matt had no right to make him feel like an unwanted intruder. He felt as if he had done something wrong but couldn't think of what. Maybe it all had to do with this marble slab that was their intended goal. Speaking of which...

"There it is," Izzy said pointing as they all reached the bottom of the stairway and descended onto the storage space's floor.

It sat wedged between mountains of stacked boxes and crates: a large, square-shaped object laid flat on its back covered in a blue tarp, a glowing red light radiating from underneath it.

"What color is it?" Izzy asked abruptly, surprising him. "We can't see what the other's aura is. Mine was purple."

"Red," Tai said softly, walking slowly towards as if hypnotized. "Red-orange."

Like the fiery inferno that had erupted through the wall of the apartment complex four years ago.

Then he was half-running, half-tripping over his own feet in his haste to get it-get to this mad obsession that had his mind in a tenacious grip. He was barely aware of the others hanging back, of himself climbing on top of a stack of crates, of bending over and yanking the tarp off with one swift flick of his arm and unveiling the symbol engraved deeply into the stone.

A small circle and two rings centering it. Four triangles with four smaller ones spread out like pointers for north, south, east and west on a compass... or perhaps, perhaps it was an ancient carving of the sun.

Tai trailed his index and middle fingers down the marble slab's surface almost lovingly, not understanding the need to do so.

A bright, orange light shot up from inside the center circle filling the room with a light so blinding, they had to shield their eyes.

Tai squinted through the brightness and could vaguely make out a dark mass in the core. Then as the brilliant light faded, the form became clearer: a pale pink, round ball-shape with two floppy ears streaming from its head.

Tai felt his breath catch in his chest. No. No, the world couldn't possibly be this cruel...

He staggered backwards, hearing a strangled sob escape from his throat, and he tried so hard not to look because if he did he would be just as susceptible as before. But his eyes were already lifting of their own volition and Tai found himself drowning in a warm, red gaze that was so hauntingly familiar.

His lungs burned as air tried to tear itself free. Something that felt like liquid honey was cascading down the inside of his chest, coating the raw patch over his heart and soothing the ache he had carried for so long.

Tai tried to resist it—the bond that was wrapping itself around his very soul—but he felt alive like he hadn't in four years time and then the Koromon smiled at him in that stupid, adoring, toothy grin almost the same as before... and then Tai was _home._

_To Be Continued..._

**A/N:** Whew! Well, that's out of the way now. This chapter was mainly for pushing main characters forward. I wanted to explain a lot of things like why Matt went to the Digital World looking for a fight-it wasn't just to act tough. He does have a valid reason for the vengeance. That will be explained later. Half the fun is the suspense of finding out what, you know! Also, more information on T.K., Joe, and Izzy like why it seems the Self Defense Forces base is like a second home to them will be made clear... later.

I kept forgetting that in 01, Tai and Matt have this antagonizing rivalry thing going on for the most part. I'm so used to writing their 02 counterparts where they are friends who have overcome their trials and worked out their differences. It was sort of daunting to go back to the beginning, but I shall fun paving the road for them to become bosom buddies in the future, muwaha! XD

Also, some reviewers were curious as to what happened to Tai's first partner. There was even speculation that Tai might get a Virus type for his new partner. You have no idea how very tempted I was to alter my plans for this fic to do that! It sounded so cool! However, when I say this is an 01 AU, I mean pretty much that everything that happened in the show we all know happens here, yet ten times more exaggerated and sometimes out of order. However, there will be some new, never-before-seen AU events too. That means the kids will be getting the same Digimon as before. I'm sure some of you will be disappointed and some will be relieved. Hey, I could always write another AU fic where Tai gets a Virus partner—I'm not putting that egg out of the basket just yet!^^

And if you hadn't guessed from this chapter with all the clues, yes, something tragic happened to the first Koromon at Highton View Terrace. This Koromon is not the same one. He becomes the Agumon we all know and love!

Also, I don't think I can update this fic as quickly as I did **Reboot**. I'm working on a lot of background information that is the supporting column for this story. Such as, how the gates were opened decades earlier than they should have been, what adult gets what Digimon partner, and so on. I will say now that the Crests' plotline will be slightly different from their role in the tv series, alright? In any case, I'd say two weeks between updates hopefully, three if I really need the time.

Next chapter: Captain Ishida makes another appearance as well as Tai's parents, more explanation on the marble slabs, and more background info on the kids' pasts. Yes, I will finally tell you what the silver gun and X-VD2000 is and does—I didn't manage to fit it in here. And of course, how will Tai take to this new Koromon, hmmm?

I hope you have enjoyed reading this! Please review and share your thoughts. I love hearing what you liked best and it's the only reward a fanfic author gets. If you have any questions just ask, and I'll try to answer to the best of my capabilities without giving anything away. Thank you!^^


	3. Theories and Revelations

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon. Toei Animation does.

**Summary:** AU Season 01. In a world that has co-existed with Digimon for the past twenty years, humans and their partners battle against the Virus type Nightmare Soldiers set on casting the world into darkness. Eight kids will help reshape the future.

**Title: The Alternative Factor**

**Ch.3 Theories and Revelations**

It was like drifting between the space of asleep and awake, the space where you dream yet are fully aware that you're dreaming. Tai heard the voices as if they were coming from the end of a long tunnel, faint and broken.

"...what happened..."

"...just collapsed... think the bond... overwhelmed him..."

"...foolish children... told them not to..."

"...father's here... just arrived..."

"…keep him away... don't let him see..."

Tai awoke fuzzy and disoriented as it always was when someone woke up not expecting to be where they found themselves. The first thing he noticed was that he was lying in bed—well, not really a bed, more like a cot with a blanket draped over him. The walls and ceilings were stark white and the smell of antiseptic filled the air. A sense of déjà vu washed over him as he realized he was in the infirmary. Hadn't he just been in the cargo hold minutes ago though?

He flung his memory back but there appeared to be a missing gap somewhere between touching the stone slab and waking up here. What had happened?

Something stirred on his chest and Tai's gaze lowered to land on a round pink head with ears snoozing lightly, a small bead of drool trickling out of one corner of its mouth.

The stone slab with the engraving of the sun… the orange light… the Digimon… warm red eyes promising him he'd never be lonely again.

Tai wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to demand answers for an injustice done. He wanted time to reverse four years. He wanted… he wanted…

Tai stretched out trembling hands and placed them gently around the Digimon, feeling its breath hitch evenly with his own.

A shrill beeping made him turn his head to the side where a bluish-green octagon shaped device rested on his pillow. A red dot was blinking on the screen and the doors to the room slid open and the indigo-haired doctor who had treated his injuries before stepped in.

"Oh, good, you're awake," the young man said smiling in relief. "I wasn't sure how much longer I could detain your father out there."

"My dad's here?" Tai asked, his voice sounding hoarse to his ears.

"Mmm-hmm. He seems to think we're holding you under suspicion for being one of the Nightmare Soldiers' drones. I was hoping you could set him straight on that point. He doesn't believe us when we say you aren't," the doctor said in an amused tone.

"Why am I here?"

"My brother claims that after Izumi granted you all unauthorized access to the cargo hold and you touched the stone slab uncovered from Sector 12 that you collapsed soon after the transcending of your partner into this world possibly stemming from the shock of the sudden bond."

"Your brother?"

"Joe," the doctor stated. "My name is Jim Kido. What, can't you see the family resemblance?"

Tai could. In fact, he wondered why he hadn't before. Both of them possessed the same indo-colored hair and wore the same thick, square-framed glasses. They even had similar interests in the same field of study, if Joe's medical supply bag that he was wearing was anything to go by.

"I'll be having a word with my brother about his taking medical supplies without permission to go adventure-hiking in the Digital World, you can be sure," Jim said.

Tai wondered if he could read minds like Wizardmon. He supposed it must be doctor's intuition, but really, he didn't think anything on this base could surprise him anymore.

"Congratulations on your partner. It must be hard having going through life in this world without one," Jim said.

_You have no idea_, Tai thought, dimly realizing he was rubbing the soft skin behind the Koromon's ears with his fingers. The Koromon let out a contented sigh and seemed to fall into a deeper sleep.

"How are you up to having visitors?" Jim asked. "It would put your father's mind at ease to see you. You look a bit peaky though. Let me fix that."

Tai had a flashback to Joe pulling out a long, cylindrical syringe out of his bag. Then his imagination chipped in the image was exaggerated to Jim holding one the size of a rolling pin, pushing the plunger inside the tube so that liquid shot out of the tip of the needle, and cackling evilly as he advanced on his helpless victim as his glasses glinted in a Dr. Frankenstein manner.

"I'm okay!" he yelped, struggling to sit up, however the Koromon's weight was slowing his efforts down considerably.

Then a small pink head with big green eyes peeked out of the pocket of Jim's long, white doctor's jacket.

"Pu!" it cooed.

Tai blinked startled.

A tiny pixie-like creature with a golden ring around its neck and red heart design on his stomach rose out of Jim's pocket and flapped fuzzy wings as it curved its 'W'-shaped mouth into a smile and babbled more nonsense at its audience.

"Be ba bee bu bay!" it chirruped in a rhythm faintly reminiscent of singing.

"This is MarineAngemon, my partner," Jim introduced fondly. "He helps me out with healing the more seriously wounded. He also heals those who are hurt beyond the physical as well."

Jim leveled a piercing stare at him over the top of his glasses.

Tai shifted self-consciously. Was his suffering really that obvious? He did feel rather drained and haggard though. He didn't want his dad to see him like that.

"Alright," he said giving in.

MarineAngemon seemed to understand. Flying over to him until they were nose to nose, the little Digimon smiled and cried out, "Pu! Pu! Pu!"

Three heart shaped bubbles came spitting out of his mouth and floated in the air until they impacted lightly upon Tai's face and popped. A burning pink aura surrounded him and Tai gasped as he felt something invisible, some leaden, heavy burden he had not know he was carrying, lift off him and a feeling of peace settled over him.

"Better?" Jim asked.

Tai nodded, laying his head back down on the pillow. He didn't feel drowsy, just rested.

"Good. I'll send your father in then," Jim told him turning to leave.

"Bay be ba!" MarineAngemon said in farewell as he floated near his partner's shoulder, waving one small, pink fin at him before the doors opened to reveal a familiar face.

"Tai!" his father exclaimed, rushing in and over to his bedside. "Are you alright? Did they torture you thinking you were some Bakemon in disguise?"

"I'm fine. They just brought me here because I got caught up in a surprise Nightmare Soldier attack, that's all," Tai said.

That apparently wasn't the right thing for a child to say to a concerned parent.

"What! Are you hurt? Did you get hit? Anything broken?" his dad demanded.

"Dad, stop, it's no big deal. I'm—"

"No big deal?" Susumu Kamiya repeated incredulously, cutting him off. "No big deal? It's nighttime and my kid is hours overdue for coming home and I wonder if he's dead somewhere or captured by Virus types, then I get a phone call from the Self Defense Forces telling me they have my son in protective custody with no further clarification. Then I arrive here and they refuse to let me see you and all I can think is... is..."

Anguish was shining in his father's eyes. Tai wished MarineAngemon would come back and do that pink heart thing of his again for his dad this time.

"Where's Mom?" Tai asked.

A weary, resigned look came over Susumu's face. "She didn't come," he sighed. "She... it was one of her bad days. You understand."

Yes, Tai understood. He understood there was a difference between_ didn't_ and _couldn't._

"Where's Gotsumon?" he asked, referring to his father's partner.

"He's outside in the hallway," Susumu said. "He'd just get in the way here anywhere."

Tai smiled at that. Gotsumon was forever tripping over his large rock feet and crashing into things. He also had a loud voice, which he had trouble lowering or shutting up. His father liked to joke that Tai had gotten his hard head and bad manners from him.

Susumu's eyes widened as he finally noticed the Koromon sleeping on his son's chest.

"Is that…?" he spoke in a hushed tone.

"A Digimon," Tai said reluctant to use the words "partner" just yet.

"They told me you had bonded with one but I didn't… I'm glad," Susumu stated bluntly. "I'm glad you finally have a partner. Maybe if you had had one four years, things would be different now."

Tai winced, shrinking a little and feeling guilt gnaw at his insides.

"Well, Captain Ishida has informed me that due to 'extenuating circumstances surrounding your son's unique bonding' that you will not be allowed off-base anytime soon," his father shared in a wry tone.

"What?" Tai said. That didn't make sense. The only excuse for holding him here had been because he was un-partnered and now that factor was null and void. What was the captain thinking? "He can't do that!"

"I believe I can," proclaimed a voice from the doorway.

"You!" Susumu roared pointing at him. "I demand you let my son go at once! He's no sympathizer or mind-slave of the Nightmare Soldiers!"

"I never said he was, Mr. Kamiya," Captain Ishida said. "And I'll have you remember that as a civilian you have no authority or grounds to be issuing orders on a military base least of all to me. Now or you quite finished throwing un-false accusations about or do I have to listen to more emotional tirades before explaining?"

Susumu crossed his arms, sat down on the bed opposite Tai, and proceeded to scowl viciously at the man.

The captain did another one of his trademark arching of the eyebrows aimed at Tai, his amused expression clearly saying, _So this is where your defiant streak comes from?_

Tai resisted the urge to slide under the covers and pull them over his head in embarrassment.

"As I've stated before, your son's bonding is unique," Captain Ishida said. "His Digimon did not merely hatch from an egg nor did they run into each other of their own accord. It emerged from a stone that fell from the sky."

"What?" Susumu said surprise crowding his features. "Like a comet or asteroid—?"

"No, no, nothing like that. Just a marble slab with an undecipherable hieroglyph carved into it—from outer space apparently."

Tai thought the captain was doing his best at trying to be confusing. If it hadn't happened to him already, he would be having doubts believing the man.

Susumu was casting dubious, speculative looks in Koromon's direction. "Are you telling me that thing's some sort of alien?"

"No, that's a Digimon alright about as ordinary as any other one of his kind," Captain Ishida stated smoothly. "It's only its 'birth' so to speak that sets him apart. Then there is your son's interesting un-partnered history, of course."

"Define 'interesting', please," Susumu said coolly as Tai tensed. Being partner-less for most of his life, he had caused a lot of ridicule and trouble for his family. _Interesting_ was not a word he would use to describe it.

"Don't you find it amazing that no Digimon was ever drawn to him for eleven whole years?" Captain Ishida asked. "Most children meet their partners by the time they are six, eight at the most. I've even heard of cases where an egg appears at the side of a newborn infant shortly after their birth. Didn't it worry you that your son was at risk for a Nightmare Soldiers' attack, one which finally occurred last night—and was long overdue in my opinion?"

Tai started. It was a new day already? But then, everything that had happened had taken place late yesterday. Then he had been interrogated and had escorted to B-11, where after he had romped about the base with a group of non-too informative kids and shown the marble slab that had started it all and been knocked unconscious—he _refused _to admit he had fainted. He must have been out for most of the night.

"Of course, I worried about him!" his father shouted. "I worry about him every single second of every single day—that hasn't stopped! But he has Gotsumon and my wife's partner to look after him at home and his teachers and their Digimon to protect the children at school. I just assumed his partner hadn't been born, created, formed—whatever you call it—yet. And look," he said motioning to the still-snoozing Koromon. "I was right. And I despite the 'unique bonding', I highly doubt that reason is valid enough to detain us here in this manner."

"Oh, I'm not detaining _you_, Mr. Kamiya," Captain Ishida said. "You're free to leave anytime you please. I only notified you of your son's location so you would not worry. But I'm afraid he's staying here for a period, valid reason or not. I have my orders from above."

"Whose orders?" Susumu was turning red in the face from refrained anger. A purple vein had popped out of his forehead and was throbbing agitatedly.

A loud crash came from just outside the infirmary then along with several harried shouts and swearing. The doors slid open wide enough for Jim to poke his head inside, hair askew and glasses tilted lopsided, hanging from one ear, and say, "Excuse me, Captain, but there's been an incident with Mr. Kamiya's partner."

"Well?" Captain Ishida pressed.

"Um... an incident concerning an overturned coffee cart and an offended Crabmon who's demanding an apology, but Gotsumon claims he didn't do it on purpose and then he called Crabmon a 'bumbling codfish' to which Crabmon responded that Gotsumon was a 'pile of brainless gravel' and now..." Jim trailed off looked rather flustered.

"If they insist on brawling in the hallway, then make them go outside in the courtyard and battle it out there," the captain said in a bored tone.

"You'll do no such thing!" Susumu snapped springing up and rushing for the doors. "I'll be back shortly."

"Nice diversion," Tai said when the doors had closed again.

"Why, I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about," Captain Ishida said evasively, a secretive smile hanging about his lips. "But now that we can talk freely, what was your impression of B-11?"

"You mean the kids there?" Tai inquired. "The ones who had no partner for most of their lives like me and had a marble slab fall out of the sky for them too? Did I understand all that? That's thing that we all have 'a lot in common', am I right?"

"That is correct, Mr. Kamiya," Captain Ishida said. "But that's not all you have in common with them. I take it you didn't converse with them much before they showed you the stone?"

Tai shook his head and wondered how the man would react if he told him he thought his oldest son was a stuck-up human version of a snow-machine.

"Like you," the captain continued. "They are all surviving eye-witnesses to the Hikarigaoka incident."

A lightning-like shock raced throughout his body at this revelation. Tai was aware of the captain watching him closely with that cool blue gaze that seemed to peer into his innermost thoughts and with Wizardmon for a partner, who knew?

"I have a theory," Captain Ishida imparted as he paced the length in front of Tai's bed back and forth. "These marble slabs from the sky... so far they have all been discovered by eyewitnesses of the Hikarigaoka Incident. There were only twenty-six who survived, twenty-six out of a building population that housed four hundred, seven of which were children. So far, not only have these slabs been discovered by eyewitnesses of the Hikarigaoka Incident, they have been discovered by five of the seven surviving children. It's possible that there are seven slabs in all and these last two will end up near the proximity of wherever these remaining children are and its logical to assume they also are partner-less."

Only twenty-six who survived... seven of which were children.

Children... who survived...

_Fire. _

_Heat, licking at his skin. The biting smell of flesh filled his lungs. _

"_We have a survivor!" _

_A voice loud and grating vibrated harshly off the inside of his ears, which had been ringing with an eerie silence for the past hour. His limbs were too numb and heavy to move much, and what little he could felt as if it were pinned under something. A light was shone into his face and pain exploded behind his closed eyelids at the sudden brightness. He let out a half-whimper, half-moan and lifted a sluggish arm to shield himself against it, and agony flared up in his exhausted muscles._

_"Oh, damn those Nightmare Soldiers all to hell, it's a kid!"_

_Suddenly, the weight pinning him down was lifted off him and hands were grabbing at him, dragging him back up into a destroyed and catastrophic city. He twisted against them, kicking and flailing feebly, because he couldn't be captured yet. Not until he had reached them. They needed him. He had to fight, fight like he hadn't been able to before..._

_"Calm down, it's alright! You're safe now," the voice said in a kind and gentle tone. "You need to stay still. You're injured."_

_He was vaguely aware of the blanket being draped about his shoulders, but he was too dazed to protest, too stiff to react. _

_"I've found another survivor. Kid, male, looks around seven," the voice was speaking into a communicator. "Get me a Digimon with healing abilities now or send me some blasted medical assistance!"_

_He was shivering, his body wracked with violent trembles that were not caused by the coldness of the air nor by the sight of the scorched apartment complex with its walls crumbled inwards and a skeletal frame still smoldering thickly with fire and smoke. No, it was the gaping hole he felt inside himself, a place that had once been filled by another presence, now it was achingly empty—and it burned raw and bled at the frayed edges, and he knew in that instant he'd never find peace or happiness again..._

Captain Ishida was still talking.

"It's all very perplexing yet fascinating. Like some higher power has chosen you children and set you all on the road to your destiny. I wonder what will happen once all you children and the Digimon you've released from the slabs are gathered together—"

"Get out," Tai whispered clenching the covers into tight balls with his fists.

Captain Ishida paused in his vocal musing to stare at the boy. A tinge of regret passed over his face. "Look, son, I'm not trying to be insensitive. I've done a background check on your family. I know the loss you have suffered—"

"GET OUT!" Tai screamed hurling the nearest object at hand—his newly-appeared digivice.

It narrowly missed the captain's head and bounced harmlessly off the curtains used for separating the beds, where it landed with a dull _thonk_ on the floor.

Captain Ishida walked over and picked it up. "You shouldn't be throwing things as important as this," he said calmly.

"I don't need it. Digivolving causes nothing but trouble!" Tai shouted.

He knew he had let his anger reveal too much information again by the way Captain Ishida's eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up, but he really didn't care at the moment.

"Get out," he said again. It was almost a plea this time, broken and wavering. "Please get out."

Thankfully, Captain Ishida took pity on him. Nodding curtly, he pocketed the digivice and turned to head out, but not before he had asked one more question, "Your father, your parents—they don't know you had a partner before this, do they?"

"No," Tai said not bothering to hide or deny this information any longer.

"I won't tell them, but think on this. You're not the only one who has endured a personal tragedy in the Hikarigaoka Incident. Those other kids have too, as well as myself and my sons. You're not alone in your suffering... in more ways than one," Captain Ishida stated gazing purposefully at the sleeping Koromon who had miraculously not awoken at raised voices.

Tai stared at the captain's retreating back and realized he was not the only one keeping dark secrets locked away within him. Someday they would be spilled out into the open for all to see and their holders would be punished for their transgressions. Sometimes he wished it would all be over; so that the guilt would cease flaying him alive.

But not today... no, today held the promise of a new beginning. Of an old would finally healing.

"Everything will be fine," Tai murmured to the Koromon bending over so that their foreheads touched.

Inside him, the gaping hole had been sizably reduced. Something tugged and pulled and threatened to expand even larger to fill the void patches that lingered. It wrapped around him and encased him like a blanket, everywhere at once and almost smothering but not quite.

"Everything will be fine," Tai repeated willing himself to believe his own words. "Just please, please... never digivolve."

_To Be Continued..._

A/N: Updating sooner than I though, though I'm still serious about that 2-3 week deal. Sometimes, it just all flows at once. This chapter was to set up foreshadowing (if you haven't already seen enough through Tai's flashbacks). Reviewers were voicing concerns that the girls had been killed off (or so they had assumed). Kekeke, I may be an evil author, but I'm not that heartless. (Besides, I'm sure ratings would go down if I did that). So, as I detest giving away future plots, read between the lines here: Captain Ishida has a theory that there are seven marble slabs and they are meant for the seven kids who survived the Highton View Terrace Incident, etc. The boys have all gotten their partners and giant rock. Who's next do you imagine?^^ And since I'm sure people are wondering if I've offed Kari… what does the summary for this fic read as? Think on that and then this: appearances can be deceiving. Ooh, cryptic! But not too much I hope—there, feel better everyone?

So, about MarineAngemon being Jim's partner: don't tell me just because he was in Season 03, he can't be in this story. There's more than one of his kind out there, and he makes a perfect doctor's partner with his healing abilities. It's never been stated or proved anywhere in the series that a child can not have such a high level partner, therefore even if my story wasn't AU, I wouldn't be straying off-canon. Besides, it is not like MarineAngemon goes off to battle in the front lines. He simply heals people. What can I say? The little guy has an obsession/fascination/fixation with indigo-haired boys with square-framed glasses (coughkentacough). X3

I'm just gonna give up saying when I will make clear what the silver gun and X-VD2000 are. I know what they are both the opportunity hasn't arisen so far to explain without it appearing out of place in the scene. (sighs)

Gah, rereading this chapter, there's so many subtle hints of what is to come. You all have no idea! The simplest lines can have the most meaning and everyone has a back-story to be told. I'm still debating whether or not to keep this story strictly within Tai's POV or allow others in. As of now, I'm sticking with Tai's because he's like you guys—he has absolutely no idea what's going on while the others do. So until they plot starts to unmask itself and becomes a bit clearer, there will only be one POV.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this! Please review and share your thoughts. I love hearing what you liked best and it's the only reward a fanfic author gets. If you have any questions just ask, and I'll try to answer to the best of my capabilities without giving anything away. Thank you!^^


	4. Cracks In the Ice

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon. Toei Animation does.

**Summary:** AU Season 01. In a world that has co-existed with Digimon for the past twenty years, humans and their partners battle against the Virus type Nightmare Soldiers set on casting the world into darkness. Eight kids will help reshape the future.

**Title: The Alternative Factor**

**Ch.4 Cracks In the Ice**

The Koromon was awake and watching him with unblinking red eyes. It had been doing this without speaking for the past half hour. Tai wondered if something was wrong with it—he didn't recall his first partner being so quiet. Perhaps it had nothing to say. Tai was glad in any case. He didn't feel like talking at the moment, much less answering any questions.

Idly, he tapped his fingers upon the table's surface. He had been ushered out of the infirmary and back to section B-11 soon after Captain Ishida's visit. His father had spoken to him briefly and said he was going to try and get to the bottom of why he wasn't being released, and had disappeared.

Tai rested his chin in his hand and glanced about the deserted room, wondering where the other kids had gone to. Maybe Izzy had broken into another restricted area of the base. Maybe they were joy-riding around in one of the military jeeps. He could just visualize it: Matt driving at the wheel, a determined glint in his cool, blue eyes, Izzy hacking into the GPS tracking system and downloading the software onto his laptop, T.K in the backseat hollering his head off in happy, childish glee, hands up in the air, and Joe leaning out of the window and being carsick.

He couldn't help but chuckle at the outrageous image. Who was he kidding? He barely knew them. Still, daydreaming was something fun to pass the time.

A low, gurgling sound reached his ears and Tai looked at the only other thing in the room that could have caused it. The Koromon's mouth was stretched into a toothy, lop-sided grin as it stared back at him and emitted the strange noise again from the back of its throat. It sounded almost like...

"Did you just chuckle?" Tai asked.

Although it had no eyebrows, the Koromon widened its red eyes and perfectly imitated his surprised expression.

"Are you copying me?" Tai questioned amused then stuck out his tongue experimentally.

The Koromon obediently did the same. However, as its tongue was twice the length of a human's, it shot out and collided with the table's metal leg. The Koromon recoiled painfully and Tai found himself laughing at the bewildered look it cast him.

A high-pitched maniacal giggling filled the air and Tai quickly stopped laughing and glowered at the round, pink Digimon. "Oh, come on," he said. "That's mean. I don't sound like a hyena!"

The Koromon had forgone copying him and stared back with an innocent air about it.

The hiss of the doors sliding open was an all-too familiar sound by now. Tai turned around to the small boy called T.K. walk in carrying a tray of food.

"Hiya!" T.K. greeted setting the tray down on the table in front of him. "Daddy says for you to eat lunch since you missed breakfast."

"Your dad is bossy," Tai grumbled but didn't protest since his stomach was rumbling hungrily.

Noticing there was a double portion of miso soup, fish cakes, a bowl of rice, and steamed vegetables on the platter, he inquired, "Are you going to be eating here too?"

"Oh, no, that's for Koromon!" T.K. stated. "You gotta feed your Digimon so they'll grow up big and strong, don't you know that?"

Tai did. All too well. "Sometimes Digimon become_ too_ big and strong," he murmured.

T.K. didn't seem to have heard him and scrambled up onto a chair so he could set the extra food aside as his head barely reached over the top of the table. "Here, Koromon!" he called.

In two leaps, from the floor to a chair then onto the table, the Koromon was showing off a healthy appetite as it attacked the meal with gusto face-first. Grains of rice flew through the air, fish cakes were swallowed whole and unwanted vegetables were spat out on the side.

An ill, foreboding feeling spread throughout Tai as he watched.

"T.K., where's Tokomon?" he asked in trepidation.

"Napping," T.K. said giving his hat a soft tap with his finger. It wiggled sluggishly in response.

"How long have you had him? I mean, how long have you two been partners?" Tai asked.

"Since those stones fell out of the sky six months ago," T.K. shared. "It was New Years Eve and Daddy had taken me and Matt to the mountains camping! We thought they were fireworks from the village below first, but then they kept on falling, coming closer and closer! Yellow and blue lights! And they landed right behind our cabin—almost crashed right into it!"

The story sounded interesting but Tai was distracted doing the math in his head. Six months ago. The beginning of January. It was the beginning of June now, the start of summer. Six months and Tokomon hadn't digivolved. And neither had Matt's or the other kids' partners for that matter apparently. It didn't make sense. His first partner... he had digivolved at an incredibly rapid rate. Had being locked within the marble slab for who knew how long somehow dampened the process?

In any case, it didn't appear like the Koromon would digivolve anytime soon no matter how much he ate then. Tai could only hope.

"Can I see your Crest?"

Tai blinked and looked at T.K. in incomprehension. "What?" he asked.

"Your Crest," T.K. said impatiently. "I didn't get to see what it looked like. You fainted, then we had to bring you to the infirmary and when we got back the slab had already turned into a Crest and was kun-fis-skated," the boy pronounced the word carefully as if he had just learned it. "Didn't Daddy give it you when you woke up?"

Tai shook his head. He still was unsure of what this Crest was, but he supposed he had staved off his chances of seeing it when he had dashed his digivice at the captain's head and screamed at him quite rudely. The captain must have had other reasons for visiting him besides spewing theories and dredging up unpleasant memories of the past, and he had effectively cut the conversation short.

_Wonderful,_ he thought. _I finally get an opportunity for answers and I blow it!_

There was a tug at the sleeve of his shirt suddenly and he looked to see T.K. leaning in closely, his voice dropping to a mere whisper as he asked, "Did you see them too?"

"See what?" Tai asked.

"At Hikarigaoka," T.K. said, his blue eyes wide. "Did you see them too? The Greymon and Parrotmon and the other... the one who appeared in a swarm of bats?"

_The sky was ripped in half like someone had peeled the paper wrapper off a crayon. Shrill, inhuman screeches and a multitude of whirring wingbeats split the air. _

_Lightning streaked across the black night sky. Red... scarlet_... crimson_ lightning smeared vividly across his vision._

_Suddenly the tide of battle had been turned._

T.K. was watching his face closely. Tai realized the boy couldn't have been more than four at the time of the incident. Kari's age when...

Tai's chopsticks, which were halfway to his mouth when the question had been asked, dropped to the table with a dull clatter.

"T.K.!" came a reprimanding shout as the doors slid back to allow the boy's brother entrance. Matt stormed into the room carrying his partner under one arm, worry and relief displayed across his countenance as he spotted his sibling. That soon turned into distdainful expression as he caught sight of the company he was keeping.

"You shouldn't run off like that without telling me where you're going," Matt chided. "Let's go."

"Wait, Matt, I just wanna know if Tai saw them too!" T.K. said, shrugging off the hand his brother had clapped on his shoulder.

"Saw what?" Matt asked.

"The Digimon at Hikarigaoka—"

"_What?_ How could you ask a little kid to remember something like that!" Matt screamed, rounding on Tai furiously.

Tai could have pointed out that he was getting the facts wrong-that it wasn't him but his brother who had asked if he remembered anything, but all the energy seemed to have leaked out of him.

"You've caused enough trouble anyway!" Matt continued to rant at him. "If it weren't for you, Wizardmon wouldn't come here when he did and Joe, Izzy and me wouldn't have been found out! You've ruined everything! Now the medical supplies are under lock and guard, Izzy's laptop has been taken away and he isn't allowed within ten feet of a computer, and I'll never get another chance to go to the Digital World without supervision until it's too late!"

"Gee, I'm sorry," Tai snarled sarcastically. "Next time when I'm being attacked by two Nightmare Soldiers I'll just let them kill me so my existence won't inconvenience your plans!"

"At least I found out why there weren't any Nightmare Soldiers in the Digital World when I went," Matt spat. "They were launching a raid on the real world and who finds them? Some unarmed, clueless, bushy-haired kid with goggles for brains!"

There was a touch of envy in Matt's voice like he would have given his right arm to have traded places with Tai. He wanted to face off against a Nightmare Soldier very badly. There was a feral, desperation shining in his eyes and his face held a pain hidden in the shadows that Tai recognized. A pain that time had only numbed but had not taken away completely. A pain that cried out for vengeance.

_You're not the only one who has endured a personal tragedy in the Hikarigaoka Incident. Those other kids have too, as well as myself and my sons. You're not alone in your suffering..._

A feverish, reckless instinct overtook Tai. He knew no good would come of it, but that didn't stop him from opening his mouth and inquiring, "So, who'd you lose anyway?"

In hind sight, he probably should have guessed he had crossed the line too far and seen the fist coming, but for some reason he was still caught off guard by the blow that was swung and knocked flat out of his chair to the floor. The wind was ripped from his lungs and as he struggled to regain his breath, he was tackled by the other boy who sat on his chest, snagged the front of his shirt in both hands and shook him roughly.

A _"how dare you!"_ was yelled into his face and Tai saw the fist pull back for another punch.

Tai lashed out before he could land it—one solid jab with his elbow into the boy's stomach and Matt doubled over wheezing. Seizing his chance, Tai threw himself forward, grabbing him around the middle and bowled them both over backwards. Making a quick recovery, Matt kicked out with one knee and scored a stunning hit the hollow underneath Tai's chin that left him seeing stars. Being momentarily dazed didn't quench his fighting spirits though. He felt Matt's hands on his arms pushing forcefully, trying to pin them down, so reaching up with his own, he latched on to Matt's and shoved back. They rolled about on the floor grappling with each other, banging into tables and chairs and dimly through the blood marching madly to his ears Tai thought he heard T.K. shouting in the background somewhere.

Suddenly a flash of pink filled his vision and the Koromon was there bouncing up and down quite agitatedly and emitting distressed squawking sounds. When those did not appear to put a halt to the fighting, it unleashed a torrent of pink bubbles at the person attacking its partner.

Matt stiffened and hissed as the bubbles impacted upon his unprotected back, melted right through the material of his shirt and left ragged holes behind in their wake as well as several patches of pink, raw skin from the acid.

A blur of orange fur and a grey curved horn launched into the Koromon from the side. "Don't you hurt Matt!" it cried and then the two Digimon tumbled roly-poly fashion over each other until they crashed into the wall.

A panic coursed through Tai's veins as he watched the two Digimon eye the other warily, feint lunges, and snap and bare their teeth.

They were going to fight. If they fought, digivolving was inevitable. Digivolving was dangerous, destructive, and brought undesirable attention. With digivolving, there was leeway for deletion...

If Tai had been able to, he would have gotten up and put himself between them, but Matt was sprawled out halfway over him, winded from the pink bubbles' effects and neither of them could move.

"Koromon, _stop_!" Tai shouted his voice cracking in terror.

Amazingly, Koromon did, the wild glint fading from his eyes and he blinked confused as if he could not remember what he should be angry about.

An odd, indescribable feeling washed over Tai as he realized this was the first time he had thought about his partner as just Koromon, not 'the' Koromon, and had replaced 'he' for 'it'. It symbolized something significant, but he wasn't sure what yet.

Something hot and wet splashed onto his chest and soaked into the fabric of his shirt as the body on top of him shuddered and Tai barely registered the fact that Matt was crying before the boy lifted a glaring red-face, tears dripping out of the corner of his eyes down his cheeks and whispered brokenly, "She was going to leave anyway. She was going to leave us—the Nightmare Soldiers just made her do it sooner."

There was no time to dwell on the relevance of that statement though as the doors slid open for the third time and T.K. rushed in followed by Wizardmon, whom he had run off to find in the midst of the fighting.

Wizardmon's eyes narrowed as they landed upon the two boys on the floor, their numerous war wounds and their bruised and scuffed Digimon staring guiltily back.

"_Not_ a baby-sitter," was all he said, although by the way he was gripping his staff tightly, it looked like he was severely refraining himself from casting a spell to turn them all into toads.

oOo

Jim didn't look quite as friendly as he had the last time Tai was in the infirmary. His usual smiling face had morphed into a blank slate, his mouth set in a straight line as he took note of the new injuries.

"Three times here in span of less than twenty-four hours, Mr. Kamiya? I do hope you're not trying to break a record or have grown too fond of this place, because I'm leaving you to bleed to death in the hallway if there's a fourth time before the day's over," he stated in a grim yet serious tone.

Tai rubbed the bruise that was forming on his chin where Matt's knee had connected and didn't doubt it. He could feel another bruise emerging on his left cheek where he had been decked and knew he was going to have a sore jaw before too long. Dang, but Matt could sure could whap a wallop.

He cast a glance to the boy on the bed across the room. Apparently Jim felt it prudent to separate them as much as possible. Matt was lying on his stomach, his face buried in the pillow and his frame tense and shoulders hunching up in barely-perceptible tremors as Jim lightly swabbed cotton balls absorbed in ointment onto the raw patches caused by Koromon's attack.

Koromon nuzzled his face into his partner's side and Tai placed a calming hand on his head. He hoped they wouldn't blame the Digimon for this. It had really been his fault for provoking Matt. He should have been more considerate in his phrasing of the question. He knew he wouldn't have liked it if Matt had asked him point-blank the same question.

"Mind if I ask what the fight was about that it stimulated your two Digimon onto the verge of battle feeling like their two partners were in jeopardy?" Jim inquired.

Neither of the boys answered and Jim made a disapproving "_hmm_" sound in the back of throat.

The heavy stomp of military boots announced the newcomer into their midst: a Self Defense Forces soldier with a familar bandage wrapped around his head.

"Hey, kid, you still here?" Mantarou Inoue greeted Tai. His gaze drifted to Koromon who was nestled up against his side. "Is that your new partner? See, there was no need for kicking up a fuss. A bond's a bond no matter which way you look at it. Any Digimon will do, so long as they keep you from going insane."

Rage boiled up inside Tai at those words, at the utter heartlessness in them, but before he could act on it, retaliation came from a very surprising source.

"You don't know anything about it!" Matt shouted, half-rising from his bed. His face, splotchy red from the tears he had shed before, was turning a vivacious shade of puce. "Don't talk about things you don't understand!"

He looked for a moment like he was going to launch himself or at least a pillow at the soldier, if Jim had not pushed him gently but firmly back down on the mattress.

"You lie back down right now and don't be moving about," the doctor ordered. "You're father's going to have my head if those raw patches don't heal properly. And Mantarou, as your friend listen to me for once: for all that is holy, either think before you speak or shut up. You may have genius level scores on your aptitude tests, but your social skills need refining."

Mantarou crossed his arms, appearing more displeased at the sound rebuke he had received than repentant.

"Did you have a reason for coming here besides provoking my patients?" Jim sighed.

"This," Mantarou said sourly, pointing to the large bandage swathed several times about his head. "I'd like to trade it in for a smaller size if you would be so kind, doctor."

_Tch_-ing, Jim issued for the young man to seat himself on the chair next to the supply table. Then unraveling the first slightly blood-stained bandage, he began redressing the wound non-too gently, seeming to relish the yelps of pain his friend belted out.

"You're doing that on purpose!" Mantarou accused after letting loose several vehement and vulgar swears.

"And you're getting to be rather vain, aren't you, Mantarou," Jim stated. "Worrying about how a bandage will obscure your handsome features?"

"It's not that," Mantarou croaked, his eyes stinging from the pain as Jim dabbed disinfectant across the row of stitches on his forehead. "The Digital Researchers... they're sending their head analysts and computer programmers to collaborate with our officers over the destabilization of the gateways. I've just been assigned as personal escort of Mr. Oikawa and I'd prefer to look less like a mummy when I meet him."

Though Tai didn't fully understand all that he had just overheard, he had an inkling it must have been classified information as Jim pursed his lips and a deep worry-line etched across his brow as he glanced sideways at Matt.

The aforementioned name must have held some significant to him because his face had changed color again, this time a sickly, ashen grey. Then Tai saw it—the flare of his nostrils, the quickening of his breath as his chest heaved, and his knuckles turning white as his fingers curled tightly into the palms. And his eyes... his eyes were like two blue knives of ice.

Jim muffled a curse, all but slapped a cloth square and gauze tape over Mantarou's forehead igniting a strangled shriek from the soldier, grabbed him by the arm and bodily hauled him across the floor.

"For god's sake, Mantarou, you couldn't choose a better time to boast about your new assignment?" Tai heard the doctor hiss into his friend's ear they passed by his bed. "Keep him away from section B-11 while he's here, you understand," Jim said in a low voice as he prepared to boot him from the room.

"Wait!" Matt cried and the two young men spun around: Mantarou looking very confused and in pain and Jim appearing hesitant and wary.

"My dad... does he know about this?" Matt asked tentatively.

"Captain Ishida was the one who gave me the assignment," Mantarou said blinking puzzled.

Matt's face sagged as if invisible puppet strings stretching it taunt had been cut and the expression he wore, like someone had knocked him clean off the edge of the world, screamed betrayal for all to see.

Jim picked up Mantarou by his uniform collar and practically shoved him through the doors into the hallway where he missed smashing his nose into the wall by a mere inch.

"Dangit, Jim, I'm a soldier not a dishrag you can discard!" came the offended exclamation before the doors closed.

It was like standing on the stage when you were not part of the act and watching other continue in their roles around you. Tai knew he was being shown insight into something private, something none of his business, yet he couldn't leave or look away.

"Matt," Jim said softly and Tai started at the doctor using such a familiar address. "Matt, it might help if... MarineAngemon could—"

"No."

The boy's tone was firm and unyielding. Tai heard the bitterness ingrained within it. He could identify with it. Some pains you did not want to be healed. Some pains you held onto and they shaped you into who you became, made you grow stronger... so you could never be hurt in the same way again.

"Don't hold onto unforgiveness, Matt," Jim said. "It's not healthy."

Tai watched as Matt lifted his head and locked gazes with him from across the room. His eyes were burning with a cold fury and even from this far away, he could feel their intensity, like freezing waves crashing upon an iceberg with a lethal tide of _hate_, and he knew for once it wasn't aimed at him, yet he still shivered all the same.

_To Be Continued..._

**A/N:** And the plot thickens! Here comes the AU-ness! I really don't mean to end the chapters on thse cliffhangers; they just happen. I'm not sure what words of wisdom to give the readers either. I hope it's a little clearer on what happened at Highton View Terrace now... any yet still vague enough to be confusing. I will just say, because I know people are going to read into things too far, no other child besides Tai has had a partner before. Think on that before drawing your conclusions. And like I said in chapter 1, some of the 02 cast will be making cameos here, as well as some 02 plotlines. Remember, some 02 events are the backbone for events in 01 and some 01 events were a key factor for initating 02 events to happen.

Ah, more plot will be revealed in the next chapter. Stay tuned! I do mean it about the 2-3 weeks update thing. It will come sooner or later, but until then, enjoy the quick updates I'm shooting out. It's a miracle! I hope you have enjoyed reading this! Please review and share your thoughts. I love hearing what you liked best and it's the only reward a fanfic author gets. If you have any questions just ask, and I'll try to answer to the best of my capabilities without giving anything away. Thank you!^^


	5. I Spy

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Digimon. Toei Animation does.

**Summary:** AU Season 01. In a world that has co-existed with Digimon for the past twenty years, humans and their partners battle against the Virus type Nightmare Soldiers set on casting the world into darkness. Eight kids will help reshape the future.

**Title: The Alternative Factor**

**Ch. I Spy**

Tai wandered down the hallway following Joe who was leading him no doubt probably back to section B-11. The boy had been summoned right before his brother Jim had all but kicked him out of the infirmary—not that he was complaining about that. It had been uncomfortable with Matt glaring daggers at empty space in there with no explanation other than the implication that he bore a grudge against some person called Oikawa. He just hoped he wouldn't end up in a situation that required another visit there—he was sick of these back and forth trips between the two places.

"Listen," Joe spoke up, turning around suddenly, "you shouldn't antagonize Matt like that, not when you have no idea what he's been through."

"Alright, so I might have kinda been a little insensitive," Tai admitted reluctantly. "He could have just told me to shut up and mind my own business though. He pulled the first punch. I was only defending myself and so was Koromon."

"It's just if we're all going to be working alongside each other in the future, bad feelings between people make for a poor team," Joe said.

"You act like I'm going to be sticking around here for some time. Work alongside each other for what? What team? _What are you talking about?_ Why won't anyone give me a straight answer?" Tai yelled frustrated. "Did Captain Ishida brainwash you too with his crackpot theory about the marble slabs and their connection to the Hikarigaoka Incident?"

He found himself pressed with his back against the wall suddenly with Joe hovering scant hairbreadths away holding a finger to his lips.

"Shhh!" Joe hissed, his eyes darting about nervously. "Don't go shouting that in corridors with the Digital Research Team on the premises! Do you _want _to draw attention to us? And also," here Joe's slate eyes narrowed as a fierce, almost protective expression filtered across his face, "If Mr. Ishida has decided to confide in you about something, it shouldn't be taken lightly. You should show him more respect."

Mr._ Ishida?_ Tai thought, noticing the substitute for the man's title. In fact, he recalled Jim had referred to Matt by his first name. Did the Kidos and Ishidas have a long history together to call each other by such familiar address?

"The old man mentioned that all of us who received a marble slab had no previous partners and were survivors at Hikarigaoka," Tai stated brazenly. "Is that true? Were you there?"

Joe's eyes widened and his face drained of color as he took several steps back away from him.

"Were you there?" Tai repeated and found that his heart was racing unnaturally fast. "Did you—did you see… did you…"

The words grew stuck halfway out his mouth. Why couldn't he finish the question? At least he knew he hadn't been hallucinating. T.K. remembered, though just how much he wasn't sure. But Joe was older than him by at least a year. His memory was bound to be sharper. So why, why were the words on the tip of his tongue refusing to voice themselves?

"You shouldn't ask nosy questions!" piped up a happy-go-lucky voice as a grey-finned Digimon popped out of Joe's satchel. "That's rude!"

"Bukamon," Joe said. Shaking his head as if to clear some contradiction within himself, he motioned for Tai to commence following again.

"Oh heck, no! I'm gonna stand right here and shout at the top of my lungs until you people start clueing me in on some info!" Tai snapped quite irked. "And believe me, I can be loud and your evil nemesis, the Digital Researchers will find us real quick!"

The sound of footsteps nearing echoed down the corridor and Joe's already pale face blanched a ghastly white. Darting out a hand, he seized Tai's wrist and dragged them both through a nearby facilities doorway.

"What are you—" Tai started only to have Joe signal him to be quiet as he listened with his head cocked sideways towards the door.

The footsteps drew closer… paused at the entrance outside and Tai found himself surprised to be holding his breath… then relaxed as they continued on until they faded out.

"That night… of the Hikarigaoka Incident…"

Tai's head jerked up at the name when he realized that Joe was actually going to share his own experience.

"Jim was spending the night with a friend so he wasn't home when it… when it happened," Joe explained in a careful, dead-sounding sort of tone.

Joe had his back towards Tai speaking with his face turned away, but as he was standing in front of the mirror above the sink, his expression was clearly visible: a bloodless blank slate capped off by two dull granite eyes.

Koromon was positioned at Tai's feet looking curiously back and forth between the two humans. Bukamon was hovering near Joe's shoulder, his face devoid of its usual cheerfulness as he waited for his partner to continue.

"I was out on the balcony looking at the stars from my telescope. It was an extra credit assignment for my school. My astrology books had nothing in them about a giant egg dropping out of the sky and hatching a Parrotmon," Joe said and his shoulders hitched slightly. "I think… I think maybe that's the only reason I survived. I was on the balcony when the apartment complex got hit by the fire blasts."

Tai felt his stomach give a sickening lurch as a spider-like shudder ran throughout his body. He knew this part of the tale very well, oh yes.

"We lived on the second floor so luckily the ground wasn't too far. Everyone on the first floor died though. They were crushed to death when the building collapsed… like my parents when the apartment complex above caved in on top of them." Joe said in an emotionless, monotone voice.

Tai wanted to tell him to stop; that he didn't have to continue; that he didn't want to hear anymore… only he_ did_ because what happened after…

"The balcony I was on broke off its foundations and crashed to the ground. I didn't realize that they had—" Joe voice quavered slightly. "I was trying not to get hit by the falling debris, but there were these two Digimon fighting in front of me: the Parrotmon and an Agumon. Then there was bright shining white light and I couldn't see anything for a few seconds and when it had cleared, the Agumon had digivolved into a Greymon."

Tai's hands had curled themselves into fists and his eyes had narrowed into an unfocused gaze as he recalled the images that Joe so vividly shared.

_The light was blindingly bright. _

_He couldn't see. The breath in his lungs was trapped. His body felt paralyzed as if it were rooted to the ground. _

_Every hair on his head stood on end as the air hummed thickly with a powerful energy… and something… something felt like it was being sucked from inside him and transferred someplace else. There was an ear-splitting roar as a massive horned dinosaur rose up from its protective stance over the two humans and belted out a stream of brilliant scarlet and explosive yellow flames from its mouth that melted the feathers right off the giant green bird some distance away… melted the feathers and caused it to disintegrate into tiny black specks that resembled ash swirling up from a fire._

_And he could only clutch his sister tightly as she lay slumped over in his arms and gape at this monstrous creature who had once been Koromon half in awe and half terrified as it turned feral, red eyes shining crazily with a thirsty blood-lust towards them, saliva dripping from its sharp glistening teeth and falling to the ground in sizzling pools that melted granite._

_But he needn't have been afraid… because a force to be reckoned with even stronger had been drawn to the scene. Drawn to that brilliant white light and all its power that had been broadcasted like a solar flare across the sky… and a newly-evolved, unstable Champion was no match for it all._

_And he learned the hard way that digivolving had a heavy price to pay._

Joe had stopped speaking. Why? The story wasn't finished yet.

"What… what happened next?" Tai couldn't manage to stop himself from asking.

"I don't really remember. I think I must have gotten hit on the head or passed out," Joe said, eyebrows scrunching together as he tried to recall. "There were these bats I think… and red lightning… then… nothing. Mr. Ishida found me before the rescue operation team got there. I'm grateful. My legs had been pinned under some debris long enough that the blood has stopped circulating. Any longer and they would have had to amputate them. I guess he felt responsible for me because he's looked after me and Jim ever since."

So that was how the Kidos were on such close terms with the Ishidas. The captain was their guardian. That explained the usage of their first names so familiarly, and also why they wandered the Self-Defense Forces base so freely. But where did Izzy fit in the equation. Joe hadn't mentioned him. Come to think of it, hadn't Wizardmon said earlier that he had come with the computer technicians? Were his parents part of that group?

"How about you?" he heard Joe say as if from a far away distance and Tai blinked in confusion.

"You seem to be very curious about the Hikarigaoka Incident, but aren't you one of the survivors too?" Joe said, studying him with scrutinous eyes from behind his glasses. "I told you my story; it's common courtesy to give your own." Seeing Tai flinch, he frowned. "If you're unwilling, then you shouldn't press people for information without being prepared to give a ready reply."

Tai couldn't meet his gaze. Joe didn't understand. He couldn't tell his version of the events. The reason for the Hikarigaoka Incident… the reason behind it all…

The door to the restroom swung open suddenly, effectively giving Tai the interruption he needed, however the figure that stepped in made his relief a poor consolation.

The man was sallow-faced with high cheekbones and a square jaw. Locks of stringy black hair hung down around his shoulders and dark circles rimmed his obsidian eyes staring at them with intense interest.

Tai saw Joe's body convulse in alarm from his peripheral vision and wondered if the word "zombie" had just flashed across his mind as well.

"Well, hello there," this hybrid between alive and the undead greeted them. "I didn't know there was a waiting line in here. Perhaps I should see if another facility is available."

"There isn't! A line, I mean," Joe all but yelped. "We were just leaving! Come on." The boy made for the exit, skirting as widely as possible around the man but skidded to a halt when he spoke.

"Joe Kido, am I right? You've grown up since I last saw you." The man was smiling—if you could call it a smile—it resembled more of a cross between a sneer and a smirk. "And your partner, I presume?" he said glancing at Bukamon briefly before locking an inquisitive gaze onto Tai and Koromon. "Another pair is it? Captain Ishida neglected to tell me such vital information. Disobeying orders is treasonous."

"We only just found Tai yesterday!" Joe interjected rushing to the captain's defense. "It's not like we've been keeping him a secret! And you were coming here today anyway. The captain was probably going to inform you at the meeting!"

"So you knew of my arrival beforehand then? Hahaha, my reputation precedes me!" the man laughed in a rich amused baritone.

And Tai had a very good inkling on who the man was suddenly.

"Mr. Oikawa!" shouted a frantic voice just outside and a frazzled-looking, red-faced Mantarou Inoue barged through the door.

There was an awkward moment as the young soldier gaped at the restroom's occupants and they stared back. Tai rather got the impression that when Jim had told Mantarou to keep Oikawa away from section B-11, he indirectly had meant the children that usually resided there. In any case, he would bet that Mantarou was going to get an earful from Joe's brother later on due to this slip-up. But then again maybe so would he—it was partially his fault that he and Joe weren't where they were supposed to be.

"M-Mr. Oikawa," Mantarou stammered, trying to regain composure, "Umm, the meeting… it's about to start. If you would please follow me—"

"So tell me, how are young Yamato and Takeru doing?" Oikawa asked, directing the question at Joe. "Are they faring well with their recent addition?" Here, his eyes slid towards Tai.

Joe appeared to be biting the inside of his cheek to keep himself from answering as he began fidgeting rather nervously with something around his neck.

Tai saw Oikawa's eyes zoom in on the motion like a hawk catching sight of its prey and in the space of an eye blink, the man had reached out a hand and lifted up the chain that had been hidden down the front of the boy's shirt to reveal what resembled the dog-tags military personnel were required to wear. But this tag was not silver but golden in color and had a clear surface in its middle where beyond its glass frame, Tai caught sight of a small square tablet with an antiquity cross engraved upon it.

"I see," Oikawa murmured quietly, thumbing the tag almost tenderly. "So that's what it was for…"

Joe snatched the tag out of the man's hand and backed up several steps, stuffing the chain back within the folds of his clothes, his face flushed an angry, humiliated red.

"Mr. Oikawa, we really should be going…" Mantarou pressed with a note of desperation in his voice.

"Yes, yes," Oikawa waved at him, turning to leave. "Well, be sure to give them my regards, Kido."

"I think it would be better if I didn't," Joe said, an odd chord in his tone that sounded akin to contempt.

Oikawa paused at that, and for a moment the air of good humor about him seemed to vanish and a hint of a frown appeared at the corners of his mouth. With a squaring of his shoulders, the man continued forward until he had passed through the doorway not giving a backwards glance, leaving Mantarou to scramble after in his wake.

There was a notable change in the atmosphere in the absence of the man's presence. The air felt lighter, devoid of the thick tension that had subtly brewing, and Tai felt he had narrowly escaped the wringer. Avid curiosity about what that exchange had been all about—what exactly was that tag around the boy's neck—gripped him, but he held his tongue in check. He already overstepped his boundaries too far prying painful information from Joe. Speaking of which…

"Tai, you were infirmary with Matt. Does he know Oikawa's here?" the indigo-haired boy asked, anxiety showing clearly upon his features.

"Uh, yeah. Soldier-boy over there kinda spilled the beans," Tai said. "He, ah, didn't take it vey well."

Joe looked torn in half. "I have to take you to B-11," he recited as if trying to convince himself not to deter from his goal, but it was obvious he wanted nothing more than to go to his friend's side.

In hindsight, perhaps if Joe had been in his right frame of mind with stress and concern not clouding his rational thinking, he might never have done what happened next. Not even a full minute had passed since they had left the restroom and continued on their way when they ran into T.K. The fact that the small boy always seemed to have someone looking out for him be it his brother, friend, or the unlucky Wizardmon, but in this instance was completely alone should have jarred Joe's responsible senses fully awake. All it did was present a solution to a rather unstable situation.

"T.K., great!" Joe exclaimed, face lighting up. "Here, take Tai back to B-11! I have to go see Matt!"

Tai found himself pushed from behind and practically shoved into the smaller boy's arms as Joe took off speeding down the hallway, Bukamon flapping frantically to keep up with his pace.

"Is Matt O.K.?" T.K. asked worriedly and Tai realized the last time the boy had seen him and his brother, they had both been rather beat up.

"Yeah, he's alright. He's just resting," Tai said, resting a comforting hand on the top of the kid's head, pulling back sharply when the hat pushed back against it and Tokomon peered out from beneath the brim.

"Fighting is bad!" the little Digimon reprimanded him in a shrill voice.

Great. Now he was getting lessons in manners from a piglet, Tai thought feeling chagrined before his mind latched onto another notion.

"T.K., earlier… you mentioned something about a Crest. What is it?" Tai asked, anticipation coiling in the pit of his stomach, because slowly the pieces of a gigantic puzzle were all coming together if…

"This is a Crest!" T.K. shared excitedly, eager to please the older boy. In his hands he had drawn out a chain from around his neck and a familiar-looking tag, the only striking contrasts between it and Joe's being the symbol carved within the tablet. T.K.'s resembled a sun peaking over the top of a mountain.

"The marble slabs turn into these, don't they?" Tai said recalling the boy's words from before.

"Just the tablets," T.K. said. "Daddy gave us these tags that they fit into. I'm not supposed to know where he got them, but Izzy said the Digital Researchers made them."

_So that's what it was for… _Tai remembered Oikawa saying. But the man had seemed surprised. Did that mean he had no idea about the Crests when the tags were being created? Who would create something that served no purpose that they could see and then give it away to be used though?

It was all so confusing.

He didn't notice he had said that out loud until T.K. tugged at his shirt and whispered breathlessly, "You wanna go to the meeting between Daddy and the Digital Researchers? I bet we'll learn some stuff there!"

"I don't think they'll let us in, kid, not even if you _are_ the captain's son," Tai said smiling faintly.

For an instant, the angelic, innocent aura that lingered about the small boy vanished as an almost-devilish smirk spread across his face.

Tokomon began giggling in fiendish cahoots.

Tai suppressed the chill that was traveling down his back and wondered what exactly he had gotten himself into this time.

oOo

_Air vents, that's what,_ Tai thought as he pressed forward into the small crawl space and tried hard _not_ to think about the walls on either side of him closing in even though it felt like they had eased in an inch since the last time he had glanced at them.

He focused on T.K. a little ways ahead and hoped he didn't lose sight of him. Getting lost and dying in the air vents and having his body dragged out like some dead rat when the smell started leaking out was not on his agenda for his future anytime soon.

"So, how often do you use these things exactly?" he called out as loudly as he dared.

"Anytime I want, but I have to wait until no one's around," T.K. answered cheerfully. "Matt and Daddy don't think I can take care of myself, but I have Tokomon now."

So the boy hadn't ever showed anybody his secret passageways around the base? _So why show me? _Tai wondered. He wasn't sure why, but he was distinctly getting the impression that the kid possessed an unhealthy dosage of hero-worship aimed towards him—enough that would probably send Matt into a fit of jealous rage if he ever found out.

_It's the goggles,_ Tai thought grinning to himself. _Kids love the goggles._

Up ahead, T.K. had stopped in front of an air duct covering. The vent ran in a straight line past it and continued on with no end in sight. Scooting over slightly to make room, the boy made waving motions with his hand for Tai to come closer while peering through the cracks of the metal wall cover into the room below.

Tai could hear the voices as he crept forward bit by bit. Drifting through the air vent's walls, they sounded thin and hollow… and angry.

"Your proposition is riddled with holes, Oikawa. This meeting was configured to find a solution to a haphazard situation, not to listen to the deranged ramblings of a computer programmer. This isn't a game!"

"Isn't it?" Oikawa's voice sounded annoyed. "Isn't this all one huge game? Digimon and digivices. Gateways to another world. Science fiction until twenty years ago. I was one of the first humans to form a bond. I remember the war that broke out over these creatures invading our world. Parasites, I believe we called them. Parasites because they attached themselves to their partner and afterwards the human could not live without them. No indeed, their mind slipped into chaos if the bond was severed."

Tai reached T.K.'s side and lowered himself on his belly so he could better observe through the wall covering's metal slates.

There were twelve occupants in the room that he could see, humans that is. The number increased if he counted their Digimon, however not all were present by their partner's side. Tai supposed some were on-duty or were too large to fit into the office space. His heart quickened a beat when he spotted Captain Ishida and Wizardmon, and he hurriedly tried to make his mind go as blank as possible. A futile attempt since it was brimming over with curiosity and excitement. All he could do was hope that there were too many people's thoughts in close vicinity for Wizardmon to pick up a few more that weren't supposed to be there.

"All of this is common knowledge. Issue your point quickly, Oikawa. There are other voices here waiting to be heard with more solid propaganda than your ludicrous proposal."

Far too late, Tai realized that maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to go along with and encourage T.K.'s illicit activities. If Matt had had such a violent reaction to Oikawa's name then what would his brother do when he was faced with the man's appearance? But T.K. showed no outward sign that he even recognized the name Oikawa and Tai supposed that he had been too young to remember whatever it was that had caused the enmity between the man and the Ishida family.

"My point,_ gentlemen_," Oikawa said forcing the word out, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "is that is that you are so focused on fixing the stabilization of the gateways that you do are not searching for the cause of the problem itself."

"We _know _what's causing the destabilization," said one of the men in military uniform, a touch of haughty boredom laced within his tone. "There is no need to send out valuable men and resources looking for something that everyone knows the answer to."

"You are so quick to blame the Nightmare Soldiers over this, aren't you?" Oikawa said, his facial expression twisting into disgust. "It's always the same. Never looking for another alternative explanation. Your prejudice knows no bounds. Mark my words, gentlemen, your blindness will cause this world to fall to ruin at your careless hands."

"I would like to remind you, Mr. Oikawa," spoke up a grey-haired man with a general's insignia inscribed upon his uniform. "That you have only been allowed privy to this meeting for your diligent labor on constructing the Tags and that is all. You and your companions," the man issued towards the two people seated on either side of Oikawa—a man and a woman, "are here only to carry our decision on the matter back to your Digital Research Team so there will be no more interferences with top secret military projects. As such, you have no legitimate grounds to speak, do you understand?"

The general's tone was sharp with a threatening edge to it and Tai watched as Oikawa's eyes flashed and jaw muscles clenched angrily, before he relaxed and inquired, "I understand I have heard a human's opinion on the matter. Would you deny a Digimon's voice then also?"

There was a stirring in the room as Digimon shifted and became more alert. A subtle undercurrent of tension seemed to hover in the air as the realization that there were _two_ intelligent species present and that one group may think themselves superior to the other settled amongst them all.

"Of course not, we humans would never be so patronizing as _that, _Oikawa," the general said, trying allay any fears or suspicions on the Digimon's part. "By all means, we welcome any personal opinion or insight a Digimon might have on the subject."

"Pipimon," Oikawa called and a small, round, green-skinned creature popped out from within the folds of the man's overcoat to stand on his shoulder. Looking at it, Tai was reminded of an acorn, an unripe, green acorn with tiny eyes and feet.

"Pipimon, if you would be so kind to enlighten everyone here of the theory our Digital Research Team has come up with," Oikawa said.

"We believe," Pipimon spoke up in an even higher-pitched voice than Tokomon that Tai hadn't thought was possible, "that the destabilization of gateways might be caused, not by the Nightmare Soldiers forcefully ripping holes through dimensions, but in fact, by the very digivices our partners possess that control our evolution process."

The reaction from this statement was instantaneous chaos. The general's shout for order was lost in the exclamations of disbelief and denial that rang rampant.

A blinding flash of light filled the room finally managing to achieve silence as human and Digimon looked for the source of this phenomenon until their eyes landed upon Wizardmon holding his still-glowing staff upright.

"I hear rumor is you're working on a new model of a digivice," Captain Ishida said calmly, his fingers laced together in front of him as he bored piercing blue eyes into Oikawa's own obsidian ones.

Oikawa started, his mouth opening in demand for how he knew, and then his gaze darted towards Wizardmon. "Hmph," he scoffed, half-smiling, "I thought it was against your morals to resort to espionage, Ishida."

"It wasn't _your _mind I read," Wizardmon declared.

Oikawa's eyes darted to his own partner. Pipimon's little green face was turning a pinkish-red color in embarrassment.

"What is this heresy, Oikawa?" demanded one of the military personnel, leaping to his feet in outrage. "Are you striving to play God? Our digivices are transcended naturally into this world when we form a bond with our partners. You _dare _attempt to try and recreate that process and substitute it with an inferior man-made device?"

"You fools!" Oikawa snarled. "Can't you see how the Nightmare Soldiers are able to locate us so easily? _They track us through the digivices of the other people they have captured!_" there was a look of pure desperation in the man's face as if he was too proud to beg for the people to see what was so obvious to him and furious that he wasn't being taken seriously. "There's never been any suggestion otherwise that we don't need digivices for our partner's to digivolve. Our very dependency on them thus far has been our greatest weakness. I'm not asking you to cast aside your digivices entirely. I'm offering a solution to a grievous situation that calls for no errors lest we not get a second chance and all you do is run down the very hope of your salvation!"

There were outcries of dissent, dissatisfaction, and accusations of insanity that flew back and forth in the room after Oikawa's tirade, but Tai no longer could focus properly upon them. His heart thumped wildly in his chest as his breathing became shallower. The air around him was too hot, too heavy, too suffocating.

"Tai, what's the matter?" whispered T.K. as he noticed the other boy's skin break out into a cool sweat and his limbs begin to shake with violent shivers.

"_There's never been any suggestion otherwise that we don't need digivices for our partner's to digivolve," _Oikawa's words were recalled to Tai's mind.

oOo

"_This is Chibomon… you should see my digivice… but I forgot it at home today."_

_Davis thrust the small Digimon into his face without warning._

_He cried out in alarm, putting his hands out in front of him as a defensive reflex, and felt his fingers brush over the smooth surface that was Chibomon's skin._

_Chibomon was glowing with a strange, golden light…_

oOo

_His first partner had digivolved at an incredibly rapid rate._

oOo

Uncertain murmurs floated up from the room below into the ventilation shaft. Oikawa's hypothesis seemed to have had struck a chord of doubt in some people's mind.

"These digivices, do we really need them?"

"What if they're only hindering our Digimon's fullest potential?"

"If we can harness that power…"

oOo

_The sky was ripped in half like someone had peeled the paper wrapper off a crayon. Shrill, inhuman screeches and a multitude of whirring wing beats split the air__._

_Blue eyes glittered with malice and amused surprise._

"_Oho? What's this? Two little human insects are the cause of that surge of untapped power? No, I see. One is the holder and one is the wielder…"_

oOo

Not everyone had been thoroughly convinced however.

"All you have is a theory, Oikawa! Nothing but insufficient data!"

oOo

_Ruby-red lips twisted upwards in a cruel smile revealing glistening, pointed fangs. _

_A mane of golden hair framed around snow-white skin. _

_Mocking laughter ripped free from the pallid throat, pealing out madly over the wrecked and rubble-strewn streets._

_Blue eyes glittering like twin sapphire jewels portraying the depths of their stone coldness narrowed in undisguised disdain zooming in on him._

"_You are… insufficient!"_

oOo

Tai's throat tightened, blocking his ability to breathe. There was a crushing weight upon his shoulders.

The air vent's walls were closing in around him. Soon he would be squashed, squashed like an insignificant, insufficient, useless bug.

Something tugged at the goggles fastened to his head. A stringy pink ear passed over his face before his eyes bringing him back to full consciousness.

Koromon. It was Koromon that was the weight on his back, Koromon, who was whimpering quietly because of his partner's obvious distress.

Slowly his surroundings came into focus. He was in the air ventilation shaft in an un-located Self Defense Force military base, not staring at the fiery skeleton of what once had been an apartment complex in Hikarigaoka. He was here, safe with Koromon and T.K. and Tokomon who were all casting frightened looks at him.

"M-maybe we should go back," Tai managed to rasp out, chuckling weakly. "I don't think I like enclosed spaces much."

And then a voice in his head, issuing a decree:

_Stay._

Tai jolted in shock. _Wizardmon? _He asked hesitantly, recognizing the voice. Had the Digimon known about their uninvited presence all along then?

_Stay,_ Wizardmon said again and Tai saw his eyes flicker briefly towards the air vent covering he and T.K. were looking through before he glanced aside. _There is more you need to hear._

_To Be Continued…_

**A/N: **Sorry it took so long for this chapter. My computer broke _twice _over the summer, so I had nothing to write on except some hastily scribbled notes on paper. Then I rewrote this chapter several times and still am not entirely satisfied with it, but I want to move on with the plot, so I think this should suffice.

Now you have a bit of Joe's story to go on for his experience in the Hikarigaoka Incident. There's more but I'll have him share that later. Yes, I know that Joe has _two_ brothers in the Japanese version and the English dub combined them both into Jim. I have planned this fic with only one brother in mind for Joe. So even if I was going by the subbed version, I would have killed off one of the two older Kido brothers. At least this way, Joe only lost his parents.

Yes, I am using the original name of Oikawa's partner. Not only because Pipimon fits it more than Datirimon, but because I remember watching the finale of 02 on Foxkids when it first came out and I _swear,_ Oikawa called his partner Pipimon, not Datirimon as I've seen in later versions. Between words, no, the man and woman with Oikawa are not Mummymon and Arukeniemon, folks. I know some people were thinking that. Those are genuine humans! I'm not sure if I am going to have Mummymon and Arukeniemon in this fic. I am planning a sequel to this story, don't forget. They will definitely be in that, but there is no need for them to be in here since Oikawa has his real partner. Which of course makes you wonder, _why_ will they most certainly be in the sequel then, hmmm? Oh dear, dear, kekeke.

Before anyone points out, yes, I realize that the air vents thing for finding out information unlawfully as been overdone in the media. In fact, I had a fun time reading up on TV Tropes word and examples on the matter. _My ventilation ducts will be too small to climb through_- Evil Overlord List (I recommend reading this. It's hilarious and _true_!) But I really couldn't help myself. It was an oh-so convenient method, it is used in Star Trek which is the foundation for why I started writing this fic, plus Tai and T.K. are kids rather small, so I think they could fit in a Self-Defense Forces base's air vents without as much difficulty as a grown man would have.

I hope it's becoming a bit clearer on what exactly happened at Highton View Terrace. I debated on how much information I should reveal. I think it was too much, but I'm sure you all think it's too little^^ And of course, the plot has surfaced and shown it's head, _finally. _This chapter was longer than I expected and I had to cut it in half even from where I wanted to cut it off!

I hope you have enjoyed reading this! Please review and share your thoughts. It's the only reward a fanfic author gets. If you have any questions just ask, and I'll try to answer to the best of my capabilities without giving anything away. Thank you!^^


	6. Shattered Reflections

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Digimon. Toei Animation does.

**Summary:** AU Season 01. In a world that has co-existed with Digimon for the past twenty years, humans and their partners battle against the Virus type Nightmare Soldiers set on casting the world into darkness. Eight kids will help reshape the future.

**Title: The Alternative Factor**

**Ch.6 Shattered Reflections**

T.K. and Tokomon had fallen into a slumbering doze, a result from spending over an hour's time in the same position, unmoving and having to remain quiet lest they reveal their presence. Even Koromon kept nodding in and out beside him, but Tai remained awake and alert, spellbound and fascinated by the proceedings that carried out in the room below. Wizardmon had not spoken to him since telling him to stay. The meeting had been adjourned. It had taken some time to get back under way. Oikawa's theory on the digivices had caused a mass division among people and Digimon alike. However, the original point which Oikawa had been trying to make—that the gateways' destabilizations were in sync somehow to the digivices—had been brushed aside for the far more alluring idea of unlimited evolution power.

"Fools, the lot of them!" Oikawa swore as the doors slid shut behind the last officer to leave and he and Captain Ishida and their partners were all who remained. "I pity the future of this country if its defenders refuse to listen to reason and fall prey to their own avarice! To think that you willingly joined these corrupt totalitarians—"

"One does what he has to provide food and shelter for his family," Captain Ishida said pulling out a cigarette carton out of his front jacket pocket and tapping it into the palm of his hand until one cylinder fell out. "Especially when your family gets extended unexpectedly. And I must say, the opportunity of shooting Nightmare Soldiers with a gun instead of a camera played a key factor in my decision as well."

The captain's last words were stated casually as the man idly twirled the cigarette between his fingers but did not light it, and there was silence for several long minutes as Oikawa eyed him suspiciously, his whole body coiled and tense as if waiting for some outburst or attack that never came until finally the man relaxed and spoke out loud. "I ran into the younger Kido brother on my way here… very fascinating piece of jewelry he was wearing too."

In the captain's hands, the cigarette's twirling had come to a stop.

"I wonder if it's some trend kids are setting these days. They always choose the most peculiar fashion statements," Oikawa remarked, continuing to watch the captain closely. "Of course, I didn't have a chance to see if your newest addition was following scope, but perhaps the enthusiastic young escort you've assigned me would be gracious enough to give me a guide in the inner sanctum of this base before I leave?"

The captain's knuckles had become as white as the cigarette his hands were clenched tightly around.

"No? Well, I could always have a nice chat with the computer technicians to see what I've missed out on. Unlabeled, unregistered shipments in the cargo hold… withheld names on the Hikarigaoka Incident… more anonymous, untraceable emails containing cryptic inscriptions needing to be deciphered?" Oikawa inquired sharply.

"I'm afraid we're all out of those materials at the present moment," Captain Ishida said smoothly, taking out a lighter and igniting, making no move to light the cigarette but instead stared distantly within the flame as if seeing another fire.

"Dammit, Ishida, don't play coy with me. I know what I saw. Are you really telling me after thousands of hours that the Digital Researchers have put into cracking down pages and pages of gibberish hieroglyphics your people sent us and then following the instructions they turn out to be, you give the very Tags we painstakingly crafted _to children_?" Oikawa demanded. "You don't even know what purpose they serve and you hand them out like they were toys!"

"I am not allowed to divulge military secrets—"

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing, Ishida," Oikawa interjected coolly. "The Self Defense Forces don't have prior claim to those slabs. The only reason you're head of this little pet project at the moment is because you're father to two of these 'Chosen Ones' as you call them and guardian to another. But the Izumi kid comes from my sector and since I have no knowledge of your most recent acquisition, I doubt his family has a background in either of our workforces. The numbers are not tipping in your favor, Ishida, if there are really two more children out there going by your theory. One day the odds will unbalance your seat and you'll lose control of the reins."

"And I suppose you think the general will entrust you with the job then?" Captain Ishida asked.

"With one of the heads of their biggest nemesis? Ha!" Oikawa laughed. "They look down on people like us you know," he said bitterly. "People whose Digimon have never digivolved…" he cast eyes briefly upon Pipimon and Wizardmon who had remained in respective silence thus far. "They think us ineffective, weak. We're little higher than Numemon on their scope. All they desire is for their partner to obtain the next level until he reaches Mega… they're obsessed with power… and I fear I have only fueled their fires now."

"You were only looking out for the well-being of the whole," Captain Ishida stated with a sort of faded sadness, his tone oddly hollow. "At least you tried. You can't help if circumstances backfire on you…"

Tai saw an expression resembling pity pass over Oikawa's face. The man reached out as if to place a hand on the captain's shoulder then think better of it and turn away.

"Joe looks much better off than I saw him last," Oikawa remarked off-handed. "I suppose your other two boys are doing well also?"

"They're getting to be more like their mother every day," Captain Ishida said as if commenting on the weather and only now did he at last light the end of his cigarette and inhale deeply.

Oikawa's body grew taut. His head was tilted at an angle, locks of dark hair shielding his face from sight, but he stood rigid for several moments as if the captain's words had been a two-edged blade. "Hear me now, Ishida," the man said his voice sharp and somber. "I _will_ find out what the objective of those Crests and Tags is before you, I swear it."

With a hiss of the doors opening and closing, the man was gone and the captain was left alone staring absently at nothing, flakes from his cigarette falling to the floor unnoticed by him.

_Tai drew in several gasping breaths and the air weighed hot and heavy upon his tongue that he imagined it was thick enough to almost swallow. _

_Darkness threatened to veil his vision, but the towering pillars of fire that loomed overhead burned brightly enough to chase the shadows away._

_A grayish-white speck floated down from the sky wreathed in flames to land upon his cheek, soft enough that it felt like a fleeting kiss._

_It was joined by another, then another, until the air was full of them, swirling, blowing, and raining down a gentle storm of the miniature flurries that fell upon the destroyed city block until they covered the ground like a soiled, lace handkerchief._

_Snow?_

_But snow was white._

_And he watched the sky cry tears of ash over the destruction it saw on the earth below until the shadows came back and dragged him into their murky depths._

"Oi, how long are you going to stay in there?"

Tai jumped, the captain's voice startling him. Had that been directed at him?

_There are no secrets between Hiroaki and me,_ Wizardmon said inside in his head. _I told him you were here. Come on down._

Feeling a bit betrayed yet admiring the unwavering loyalty Wizardmon showered on his partner, Tai shook the rest of the air duct's occupants awake.

"Mmm?" T.K. yawned, rubbing his eyes. "Is it over?"

"Your dad found us out," Tai explained fiddling with air vent's cover. "We're busted."

"Is he mad?" T.K. asked hugging Tokomon close to his chest and looking for the world like a kid whose hand had been caught in a cookie jar.

"Dunno," Tai shrugged. Truthfully, he thought Captain Ishida must be unbeatable at playing cards for he could put on a magnificent poker face when the need arose. Pushing the covering open, he eased his body out slowly and dropped to the floor. A few seconds later, he felt his hair being flattened by Koromon's crash-landing. "You need help?" he called up to T.K.

Fervently shaking his head, the boy swung his legs forward and slid out feet first.

"T.K.," Captain Ishida said, blatant surprise imprinted across his face.

_T.K. was here all this time? _Wizardmon questioned, mirroring his partner's shock.

_You didn't know? _Tai asked wondering how that was possible. But then T.K. had been asleep for awhile. Maybe his mind in that state hadn't registered to the Digimon's extrasensory perception.

_No, I would have still sensed his dreams,_ Wizardmon said, staring intently at Tokomon.

"We're going to have a nice, long chat later, young man," Captain Ishida said to his son who smiled sheepishly at him. "Ah," the man sighed, leaning back against the table and rubbing the bridge of his nose wearily. "You kids are going to give me grey hair before time. You," he said addressing Tai and pulling something out from his pocket. "I believe the last opportunity I had to give these to you before went afoul."

In his hand lay a digivice, the chain of a golden Tag and familiar-looking Crest entangled about it.

"Oh, wow, it's a sun!" T.K. exclaimed catching sight of it.

Tai reluctantly took them stared down incomprehensively.

_You don't even know what purpose they serve and you hand them out like they were toys!_

"How can you be so sure these are really ours?" he questioned.

"They're yours," the captain said with absolute confidence. "I'm afraid I can't be more informative about the Tags—under orders, but all your Digimon came from those marble slab and those marble slabs transformed into those Crests that fit into Tags. Who else would you think they belonged to?"

"But what are they supposed to do?" Tai asked recalling Oikawa's words from before.

"That's your job to find out, isn't it?" Captain Ishida said evasively, taking another drag off his cigarette.

"You promised you'd stop smoking, Daddy," T.K. said looking disappointed at his father, his lower lip trembling.

Captain Ishida looked appropriately abashed as he swiftly stubbed out the tip in an ashtray on the table. "_Harrumph,_ so I did. Sorry, kiddo. Wizardmon…"

He must spoken mind-to-mind with his partner, for the next instant, Wizardmon had drew T.K. aside and soon had the boy's attention caught fast by his own private viewing of magic tricks the Digimon conjured up.

"You're being released today," Captain Ishida said and Tai started.

"What? But what about those 'extenuating circumstances due to my unique bonding' you told my dad earlier and how I wasn't allowed off-base?" Tai asked.

"Your Crest was being fitted into your Tag. We couldn't allow you to leave before receiving it," Captain Ishida explained. "And besides," he said, blue eyes narrowing, "It would be best if you left quickly. The less you're under the general's scope the better."

_All they desire is for their partner to obtain the next level until he reaches Mega… they're obsessed with power…_

Tai thought he was the one being held captive here, but the captain was obligated to perform and carry out his duty as a Self-Defense Forces officer regardless of his own personal opinion on the matter, whether he believed in the cause or not, and T.K., Matt and Joe were little more than pawns kept close to ensure the man walk the intended path. But he and his family had no ties to the military at all. Perhaps he had more freedom than anyone here.

Captain Ishida's eyes glinted as he watched this revelation unfold in the boy's eyes and then suddenly he was in front of Tai bending over so that his mouth was scant inches away from his ear and one sentence uttered in a hushed whisper:

"Talk to Mizuki Kishimoto at the Fuji TV station. Tell her Hiroaki sent you. Tell her to look up the building's security video files of the months of July and August of 1995. Tell her the answer to what you are seeking is what manner of Digimon were present in the network during that time frame. She'll understand what that means."

Then just as quickly as the man had appeared in front of him, he was gone, leaving Tai shell-shocked to the core, and striding towards the doors making his exit.

"Come, T.K., let's go visit your brother. I hear that sullen temper of his has finally landed him in the infirmary."

"H-hey, wait!" Tai cried, rushing after him, his mind reeling wildly. The months of July and August of 1995… that was when the Hikarigaoka Incident had occurred. What connection did the Fuji TV station have anything to do with that?

He reached the captain just as the man stepped outside the room and nearly collided into his own father and the soldier that was his escort.

"Tai there you are!" Susumu shouted grasping him by the shoulders. "I've got it all planned out! Gotsumon will create a diversion, then we'll hijack one of those military vehicles and bust out through the front gate! We'll pick up your mother and high-tail it to America! See if these brainless SDF soldiers can try and condemn innocent people there, haha!"

Tai felt beads of sweat break out across his brow, fully aware of T.K. and Tokomon gawking in awe and Captain Ishida and Wizardmon's amused expressions. He didn't even bother to ask how his dad expected his plan to work when he had just blurted it out in front of two so-called "brainless SDF soldiers" and ignored the painful fact that it sounded much like his own plan that he had concocted on his first trip to B-11.

"Don't misunderstand, kid," were the captain's departing words. "Think of our releasing you as a temporary furlough. You'll be called back soon enough. And keep the Tag and Crest on you at all times—they may be your salvation as well as the chains that bind you to us."

oOo

The Kamiyas found themselves riding in the company of the Izumis in one of the Self-Defense Forces' jeeps that would be their transportation to take them to separate cars that the military was providing to escort them home. Tai rode in the back with Izzy while their fathers and partners sat up front.

There was a heavy kind of silence that made the atmosphere uncomfortable until Susumu could not take it anymore and started talking to fill in the awkward void.

"So, you're a computer technician, I hear?" he remarked off-handedly to Izzy's father.

"That's right," Mr. Izumi said adjusting his glasses. "You a PC man yourself?"

"What? Oh no, I'm just your average salary-man. I know how to use them, but I don't understand a thing about their inner workings," Susumu said.

"I see," Mr. Izumi stated quickly losing interest.

"We have one at home, don't we, Tai?" Susumu said trying to keep the conversation rolling. "But it doesn't work at the moment."

"Virus-infected?" Mr. Izumi questioned.

"No, one night on one of my midnight snack expeditions, I accidentally bumped into the bookshelf next to it and it fell over and crashed on top of it. Smashed it to smithereens!" Sususmu explained cheerfully.

Mr. Izumi gaped at the man as Susumu laughed heartily at the memory finding it extremely funny.

Tai smacked the palm of his hand to his forehead and opted to distract Izzy from listening to the rest of his father's embarrassing tirade.

"Hey, Wizardmon didn't turn your laptop into pineapple slush after all," he said, noticing the boy clutching the yellow laptop firmly to his chest as if someone might rip away by force. Motimon was glaring jealously at the sight from his partner's other side.

"He had words with Mr. Izumi," Izzy said. "I'm not to bring it on Self-Defense Forces grounds anymore."

_Mr. Izumi? _Tai thought surprised by the form of address. _Who calls their parent by their last name?_

"I'm adopted. The Izumis are distant relatives," Izzy said in a dead-tone, eyes straight ahead, as if he had shared this information countless times before. "My real parents died in the Hikarigaoka Incident four years ago."

The Hikarigaoka Incident again. Would he never be free from it? Tai turned his head away and stared out the window, his appetite for conversation dimming all of a sudden, and Izzy didn't appear to be in a hurry to resume talking either.

The rest of the ride passed in uneventful silence for the two boys; the only sounds filling the vehicle were the low tones of their fathers and their partners.

_The Izumi kid comes from my sector…_

Were the computer technicians a branch group of the Digital Research Team?

Tai glanced sideways out of the corner of his eye and tried to see the chain that signified that Izzy was wearing a Tag, but his shirt collar obstructed his view. Had the captain even given one to the boy that was under the wing of the military's arch-rival?

Izzy had known about how a Digimon would emerge out of a marble slab and that the Digital Research Team had created the Tags, but did he know that the marble slabs turned into Crests and fit into them?

But then their jeep had reached the company cars where the two families quickly separated and the time for asking questions was lost.

As Tai watched the gates of the Self Defense Forces roll past, a tremendous weight felt lifted from him. He was finally free.

oOo

"Honey, we're home," Susumu Kamiya called out they crossed over the threshold of the apartment complex. "Hello, anybody home?"

The only reply to his inquiry for a few seconds was the sound of their cat, Miko, rubbing around their ankles and demanding her supper with loud meows. Then a small bundle of white fluff bobbed up and down upon the air in a beeline straight towards them.

"Oh, Susumu! Tai!" it cried, wiggling its slender, pointed ears and curved tail happily. "You're back! You're alright! I was so worried!"

"Hey, Puffmon, Miko didn't eat you again after all?" Tai laughed as his mother's Digimon cuddled against his cheek in greeting.

Miko gave a disgusted, affronted glance as if she had understood and stalked back in the direction of the kitchen, brandishing her tail like a banner and presenting everyone a clear view of her backside, which had several suspicious patches of fur missing.

"She tried, but I taught her a thing or two!" Puffmon said, taking a deep breath and swelling herself up to twice her size before letting loose a rush of air that knocked Miko squarely off her feet and sent her scrambling under the dining table where she proceeded to yowl her head off at the unfairness of it all.

"Oh, pipe it down, you two. The neighbors will complain about the racket again," Susumu said, wandering into the kitchen to see if dinner was ready.

"_Ah—"_ Tai heard his father's strangled exclamation and followed him to behold the sight of an utter mess that the kitchen had become with bowls and cups full of unidentifiable mixtures turned over and their contents spread across the floor like some modern art painting.

"Yuuko wasn't feeling well, so I tried my best, but…" Puffmon trailed off, water welling up in her big, black eyes.

"No, no, it's all right," Susumu said hastily, waving the Digimon aside. "Gotsumon and I will clean this up and order take-out. Tai, why don't you go show your mother your new partner, hmm?"

"Your new partner?" Puffmon exclaimed, finally noticing the Koromon tucked under Tai's arm. "You have a partner now! I-I-I'm so happyyyyy!" she shrieked in delight, rapidly inflating to the size of a one of their couch's throw-pillows, before releasing the trapped air and blowing crazily around the room like a popped balloon.

Koromon followed her every movement bug-eyed and slack-jawed in amazement until he covered his eyes with his ears to ward off the dizziness from watching the spectacle. A tiny twitch in the corner of his mouth threatening to turn upwards was the only reaction Tai had. He was far too used to Puffmon's hyperactive tendencies to be surprised by them anymore. Instead, he glanced down the hallway to the door that was his parent's bedroom. It was shut without the barest hint of noise coming from beyond it.

Maybe he shouldn't disturb her. She might be sleeping.

"Yuuko would want to know you're back safe and sound," Puffmon said, her mad spinning coming to a halt and settling softly upon his shoulder.

Well, maybe he could just peek in on her real quick.

Tai slowly approached the door, each footfall closer making his legs feel like lead, and hesitated briefly before grasping the doorknob and pushing it open slightly.

It was like looking at a distorted picture of a fairy tale where the princess laid on her bed awaiting the prince's kiss to awaken her to life once more. But no magic spell held Yuuko Kamiya captive in euphoric slumber, only the throes of illness that fed on her health and drained her of energy. The pallor of her skin was a pasty grey; her hair laid strewn out on the pillow behind her and matted and sweaty across her brow, its once-shining shade of brown now dulled. The only sign of life that came from the body on the bed was the slight rise and fall of the chest beneath the covers.

_The phone was ringing._

"_Kari-Kari and Tai-Tai are slow! You can't catch me! You can't catch meeee!"_

_Atop of the refrigerator, Miko glared down upon the antics of the three who had stolen her food and disturbed her peace and hissed her displeasure. _

_Ring. Ring. Ring._

_Koromon tripped over one his own ears in his game of chase and crashed into the table, knocking the phone off the hook to the floor._

"_Hello? Hello, Tai, Kari, are you there?" their father's familiar voice floated out of the receiver._

_A small figure in pink koala pajamas picked up the phone and blew her whistle in one sharp burst into it._

"_Owww! What the—Kari? Kari, be a good little girl and give the phone to your brother, okay pumpkin?"_

_Whistling two more times in confirmation, Kari trotted obediently over to where Tai and Koromon were playing a game of tug-of-war with Tai's goggles, and held the phone out to him._

"_Gimme back my goggles, you overgrown marshmallow!" Tai shouted pulling with both hands._

_Koromon curved his mouth in a wide grin around one of the plastic eyepieces and growled as he shook it playfully._

"_You're getting drool on them!" Tai howled._

"_Tai, quit pestering poor Miko and listen to me!" Susumu yelled and Tai started so badly at his father's panicked, frantic tone that he released his grip on his end of the goggles and Koromon went flying backwards with propelled motion. _

"_What's wrong, Dad?" he asked._

"_Your mother's had an accident. I'm at the hospital right now. I might not—_we _might not make it back home until late tonight."_

"_Mama?" Kari said blinking large brown eyes, the whistle dropping out of her mouth to swing to and fro like a pendulum across the front of her chest._

"_W-what happened?" Tai said, glancing at the clock that read 5:05. _

_His mother had said she was going out for groceries that morning. He realized that she should have been back long ago now, but he hadn't given much thought to the time all day with Koromon around._

"_I don't know exactly." Their father sounded worried. "The doctors think its anemia or something…"_

"_Anny-me?" Kari tried to repeat, not understanding._

_Tai was confused as well. "She's got an underwater plant growing inside her?" he asked wondering how that was possible. His class had learned about it in science just the week before. _

"_What? What do you—no! No, not anemone! _Anemia!" _Susumu shouted frustrated. "Just never mind. I'm staying here until they release her. It might take awhile. They're going to run some tests, so Tai, look after your sister until we get back, okay?"_

Look after your sister until we get back…

"I'm sorry," Tai whispered standing at his mother's bedside and reached out one hand as if to touch her pale cheek but stopped.

As if sensing another presence in the room, Yuuko Kamiya opened brown eyes that slowly focused on the figure next to her bed. "Tai," she said, a smile spreading across her fatigued features, "you're back."

"Hey… Mom. I, uh… have a partner now," was all Tai could manage to think of to say, holding out Koromon who gazed down at upon the woman curiously.

"Pink," Yuuko said staring at the Digimon in her son's arms. "Kari will like that. It's her favorite color."

Tai stepped back in alarm. So, it was one of her bad days then.

"Yuuko needs her rest, that's all," Puffmon defended her partner, floating down to land her pillow and sounding distressed. She had said this phrase so many times in the course of four years that she was beginning to sound like a broken record.

"Rest, right," Tai said, turning away and not bothering to say good-night. In this state, his mother wouldn't even notice if a hurricane blew through so wrapped up that she was in her own fantasy world.

"She'll be better in the morning," he heard Puffmon say before he closed the door behind him and then came the sounds of quiet, stifled sobs of the little Digimon from beyond it. "Please forgive me, Yuuko. I wasn't strong enough to protect you…"

oOo

Tai only picked at the Chinese food his dad had ordered and gave his portion to Koromon who devoured it eagerly. Then he retired to his room early declining the offer to watch tv with his father and Gotsumon.

"Well, this is it," he said, setting the Digimon down on the single bed that presented Koromon a clear view of its messy interior with its hazardous sinkhole of clothes and soccer equipment strewn about the floor. "I guess you'll have to share the bed with me. We used to have a bunk bed, but…"

_The sickening crack of splintering wood as it collapsed under the weight of a rapidly growing creature…_

"Well, we don't anymore," Tai finished lamely.

Kormon sat on his bed gazing at him with round, red eyes. In the darkness of the room they looked like two pieces of glowing coals from a fire. It unnerved him.

"Hey, aren't you ever going to say something?" Tai asked because he hadn't really thought about it until now, but the Digimon hadn't uttered a single coherent word since his transcendence into the real world. He wondered if the other children's' Digimon had done the same at first. They had had their partners longer than him though. Maybe it just took a little time, like how a human baby learned and absorbed his surroundings during the first few progressive months.

Koromon's left ear twitched in response as he blinked up at his partner, opened his mouth widely… and emitted a gigantic yawn.

Tai chuckled at the sight. "Well, I guess it is getting late," he said lifting his arms above his head and yawning himself. "I'll start teaching you first thing in the morning..."

He flopped face-first onto the bed, too tired to even change into his pajamas. This had to have been the longest, strangest, most hectic twenty-four hours of his life if he didn't count that night four years ago. And tomorrow… tomorrow it all would begin again.

_Talk to Mizuki Kishimoto at the Fuji TV station…_

And Tai slipped into a feverish sleep that did not allow him peace even in his dreams.

_To Be Continued…_

**A/N: **Ah, finally, new chapter at last! Plotage runs rampant here, you just won't be able to see it until hind-sight several chapters later, unless you picked up on the hints.

We get to see Yuuko's Digimon, yay! I spent some time on Digimon Wikia searching through the Digimon's databanks because my card collection is rather small. (Yes, I still have a trading and game card collection of Digimon—Digi-fanatic freak alert, lol)! Puffmon is the English spelling of the Japanese Romanization of "Pafumon". I tried to describe her as similar to the picture shown as I could, but I gave her her own unique personality. She's a Baby Digimon partnered to an adult human. In case you haven't picked up on it, not all Digimon evolve as their partners age. In fact some never do. Can they? Yes. Why don't they? This is explained in further chapters—more plot devices!

Just a quick request: if anyone knows the original names of Hiroaki's three co-workers from the Fuji TV station shown in Season 01, please let me know. I searched everywhere for them, but came up empty-handed. The dub version only tells the first names of the two men, not the woman. She's not even given a name, I think. They have to have names, so I'll be making them up then. However, if you do know their real Japanese ones, please inform me so I can edit them into the fic, thank you.

Next chapter: things will heat up. Literally. You don't want to miss it! In fact, should I say it? I will, some reviewers' questions and fears will at last have an answer! Muwahahaha! Stay tuned!

I hope you have enjoyed reading this! Please review and share your thoughts. I love hearing what you liked best and it's the only reward a fanfic author gets. Favoriting and story alerting my story are nice too, but I like knowing what my readers think and feel. It makes me feel as if I'm actually connecting with you guys; even if it's just one word or a whole page long, I appreciate each and every one. If you have any questions just ask, and I'll try to answer to the best of my capabilities without giving anything away. Thank you!^^


	7. The Fly In the Web

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Digimon. Toei Animation does.

**Summary:** AU Season 01. In a world that has co-existed with Digimon for the past twenty years, humans and their partners battle against the Virus type Nightmare Soldiers set on casting the world into darkness. Eight kids will help reshape the future.

**Title: The Alternative Factor**

**Ch.7 The Fly In the Web**

It was a loud, grating pounding falling upon his ears that drew Tai out of sleep's stronghold and caused him to stir. Rubbing his eyes groggily at the bright morning light that was streaming in through his window, he found himself lying in his bed under the covers. Sometime in the night, his dad must have come in, removed his shoes and goggles and tucked him in carefully. Koromon lay next to his head, his long ears sprawled across his pillow like pink ribbon streamers as he snored heavily, but that hadn't been the sound that had awoken him though.

The pounding came again and Tai sat up trying to pin-point its location and instead felt a square-shaped object in his pocket. Pulling it out, he gazed at his brand-new digivice unsure of what to think of it, the device still foreign to him. It was a precious possession of so many others: his parents, his teachers, his classmates at school, and though he had seen what a digivice had looked like before, it was an entirely new experience between looking at and owning one.

"_We believe that the destabilization of gateways might be caused, not by the Nightmare Soldiers forcefully ripping holes through dimensions, but in fact, by the very digivices our partners possess that control our evolution process…"_

In the end though, it was nothing but a destructive tool that transformed Digimon into unrecognizable monsters.

Tai's hand clenched around the device as he struggled against the urge to throw it to the floor and stomp on it until it had broken into a million tiny pieces.

"_There's never been any suggestion otherwise that we don't need digivices for our partner's to digivolve."_

What if Oikawa's theory was correct and the digivice was merely a power blocker? What if it was the only obstacle keeping Koromon under control? Would circumstances have gone differently if he had had a digivice last time?

Tai glanced at Koromon sleeping peacefully—until a harsh cracking vibrated through the air, shaking the apartment complex's walls, rattling picture frames and jarring bookshelves—and caused the Digimon to spring wide awake and launch himself at his partner in a panic, wrapping both ears around Tai's neck as he curled against his chest seeking refuge from the unknown.

"It's okay," Tai smiled patting Koromon gently. "I can take a wild guess as to what all the racket is…"

The scene that greeted him as he stepped out of his bedroom, was the sight of Gotsumon punching a hole in the living room wall to join the numerous others that were strewn out alongside it in a pattern discombobulated enough to play connect-the-dots to form a picture.

"Great, almost there! One more time!" Susumu yelled enthusiastically, cheering his partner on.

"Dad, what's going on?" Tai asked dreading the answer.

"Oh, Tai you're awake, good," Susumu said half-turning. "Gotsumon and I are doing a little maintenance. I'm one step ahead of those SDF guys. I know why they let us go so easy without a fuss—they're waiting for their number one 'persons of interest' to make contact with 'the enemy'," the man said doing quotation marks in the air before crossing his arms over his chest and grinning maniacally at the near-destroyed wall. "They've planted a bug in the phone line hoping to catch us in the act. No doubt they think we have all sorts of little codes that we use to plan our dastardly plot to wipe out humanity since they've already labeled us as mindless Nightmare Soldier drones, so one innocent word when talking casually to our friends can bring the anvil down on our heads so to speak. Well, you're not going to make _this_ family your scapegoat for your complete ineptness!"

"Rock Fist!" Gotsumon cried finally breaking through and plaster erupted in a splendid shower of white particles exposing the phone and electrical wires that behind it.

"_Yus, victory!"_ Susumu crowed gleefully grabbing a handful and tugging at them as he inspected each one with a crazed gleam in his eyes. "Where are you, you little transmitter you? Thought you could outsmart the Kamiyas, did you? Not today, no siree, _hahahaha!_ "

It was times like this that Tai secretly wished he was adopted.

More than that, he was slightly irritated at his father's timing. Up until that moment, he hadn't decided if he was going follow Captain Ishida's advice and talk to the woman he had referred him to, but now that the phone was down, he realized he couldn't call the Fuji TV station and that he had really wanted to. And also…

"Aren't you going to be late for work?" he asked, wondering why his dad hadn't left yet. He was usually gone by the time he woke up. It wasn't Sunday.

"The company granted me two days leave for the family emergency that sprung up," Susumu explained. "So did Gotsumon's."

Gotsumon worked at a construction site while his father worked as an insurance agent. Sometimes, if a human's choice in jobs didn't agree with their partner's build or personality, then the Digimon would hire themselves out as a mercenary to whatever company best suited them.

"Geez, Dad, could you keep it down at least?" Tai said. "Mom needs peace and quiet."

"Mom is already up," came a voice from the kitchen that caused his heart to skip a beat.

Yuuko Kamiya stood in front of the stove, presenting him with a clear view of her back. With the skillet in one hand, she turned and smiled and the warm glow of health shone pink in her cheeks, a total inverse reflection of the person she had been the day before.

Uncertain if his eyes were playing a trick on him, Tai inched cautiously towards her stopping when he was a few feet away and gazing at her as if he had seen a ghost.

"Come and eat your breakfast, boys. Food is no good cold," Yuuko said dishing out the contents onto the plates set out on the dining table.

Tai noticed the meal consisted of some unrecognizable blueish-grey sludge-like patties with red lumps sticking out of the middle.

"I thought I would make blueberry pancakes today, but then I remembered we're all out of blueberries, so I decided to invent a new recipe and used red peppers instead. I call them: chili cakes!" Yuuko declared humming happily. "They're much healthier anyway!"

"Wow, she made bad food," Tai mumbled amazed to Koromon under his breath. "She _is_ feeling better."

"Told you so!" Puffmon chirped, hovering in the air like an over-sized dandelion spore.

"Looks delicious, honey," Susumu said wandering over, multi-colored wires wrapped around his body like ivy taking over a trellis. "Right, Gotsumon?"

"Couldn't we have ice cream?" Gotsumon moaned looking as if he might cry at the prospect of eating another one of Yuuko's unique creations to put it delicately. Tai didn't blame him. The last meal his mother had served had left the Digimon locked in the bathroom all day. For one composed mostly of rock, Gotsumon didn't possess a rock-solid stomach.

Susumu scored a kick non-too lightly to his partner's leg.

"I mean, oh boy, yum!" Gotsumon exclaimed.

It felt weird, everyone sitting down to eat together. Tai couldn't remember the last time they had done that. His mom usually had more bad days than good and stayed in bed for the most part and his dad was usually early to work and late to come home. The whole setting was sort of surreal.

"So, you're Tai's new partner, are you?" Yuuko said, addressing Koromon as if it were the first time she had laid eyes on the Digimon, yesterday's meeting having been apparently forgotten. "My you certainly do have a hearty appetite!"

For Koromon had dived face-first into meal laid out before him as if he hadn't eaten in weeks, gulping down everything in sight, and then appearing very forlorn once he realized his plate had been licked clean, a keening whine rising out of the depths of his throat as he looked up at Yuuko imploringly with big red eyes.

"Well, at least someone wants seconds," she stated pleased, rising out of her seat and gathering up the Digimon's plate before heading towards the kitchen to refill it.

Koromon found three plates full of chili cakes shoved under his nose while Yuuko's back was turned.

"Hurry, buddy, before she comes back!" Gotsumon cried, his eyes overly-bright and moist with desperation.

Koromon blinked at the feast before him then glanced at his partner unsure.

"It's for a noble cause!" Tai urged. "You'll be saving lives!"

Koromon crooked a wide, toothy grin at him and began wolfing down the food at lightning speed.

"I'm gonna _teeeeeell!_" Puffmon said in a sing-song voice as she twirled about in the air overhead.

"You do and I'll take you to my school and let the P.E. instructor use you to play badminton with!" Tai threatened.

Yuuko returned to the dining table to find three plates completely empty and devoid of even a single crumb.

"Oh my, if I had known you all would like my chili cakes so much, I would have made more batter!" she said thoughtfully. "Maybe I should—"

"NO!" Tai, Susumu and Gotsumon all cried in unison in a panicked clamor.

"No, dear, we couldn't eat another bite. The first batch really hit the spot," Susumu lied, patting his stomach delicately.

"Well, then try some of my new protein shakes to wash them down with!" Yuuko simpered, setting down the tray of drinks she was carrying. "They're banana, strawberry, milk and honey!"

Three pairs of disbelieving eyes stared back at her.

"And I also added fish oil and peanut butter because they're both brain foods that are high in vitamin B3 and regulate cholesterol! And half a cup of natto beans because they're rich in protein!" Yuuko finished. "I want my boys to remain healthy after all!"

Tai eyed the clear glass of a thick, mushy brown substance and whimpered, "Dad…"

"Be brave, my son, be brave," Susumu murmured sideways out of the corner of his mouth, all the color having drained from his face.

There was no chance of rescue this time. Yuuko had sat down and was waiting with eager anticipation for them to try her newest invention and their savior, Koromon, had fallen asleep into his fifth plate of chili cakes, a contented smile fixed on his face as he drifted through blissful Digimon dreams.

oOo

Tai leaned back in his chair once breakfast was over, feeling more than a little queasy. Eating one of his mom's experiments without any real or junk food to soften the blow took its toll out on him every time. He felt like a Monochromon had rammed him right in the gut. And by the way his dad and Gotsumon were slouched over clutching their stomachs, they weren't faring much better.

But… his mother was happy—he could hear the sound of her washing dishes in the sink and the tune of a song she was softly humming—she was happy and he supposed that's all that mattered. It was a rare day that Yuuko found the strength and energy to be up on her feet for very long. Tai enjoyed those times, even if he became violently sick later.

Even if it meant purposefully ignoring the empty plate and glass set out at the end of the table awaiting the arrival of a person who would never come…

"Ah, looks like I'll have to find that transmitter some other time," Susumu groaned, his face having taken on a greenish hue. "I can't focus properly. The things I do for love…"

The transmitter… the phone line…

_Talk to Mizuki Kishimoto at the Fuji TV station…_

Well, if he couldn't call from home, there was a telephone booth on the corner just across the street from their apartment complex.

"I'm going out for awhile, ok?" Tai said, scooping up a still-slumbering Koromon in his arms.

"Oh no, you're not, young man!" Susumu exclaimed, recovering swiftly suddenly. "I was too tired to talk about it yesterday, but not coming home by curfew, wandering into restricted zones with the full knowledge of what you're doing is forbidden, giving your old man a near heart attack when he hears you were in a Nightmare Soldier's attack? You expect to get off scott-free on all of that with no punishment whatsoever? You are so grounded!"

"But, Dad—" Tai started.

"Grounded!" Susumu roared, bull-dozing over the protest and pounding the palm of his fist onto the table for emphasis. "Grounded until you get married and give me grandchildren, I say!"

"The news said it was going to rain today. You might catch a cold. Besides, it's too dangerous for you to go outside anyway with all these Nightmare Soldier attacks," Yuuko voiced from the kitchen. "Why don't we all watch tv together? I can't remember the last time we all sat down as a family."

Tai found himself sitting on the couch in the living room five minutes later waiting for his parents to decide on a movie from their collection, his arms crossed as he sulked quietly.

"Don't be upset, Tai," Puffmon said next to his ear. "They're just worried about you, that's all."

"They didn't always used to be this overprotective," Tai grumbled but his anger receded a little. He couldn't blame them—any parent who had had a kid involved in the Hikarigaoka Incident was bound to be a bit paranoid anytime their child went out of their sight.

It was cozy sitting between his two parents, nestled within the cushions of the couch. Later on, Tai couldn't even recall what movie had been playing, just the warm feeling of security and peace he had felt. It almost felt like they were a family again, except for the absence of one person.

Yuuko didn't last the whole movie. Tai hadn't expected her to. He was surprised she had lasted as long as she had that morning. Halfway through the film, her chin sunk to her chest as her head bowed low with exhaustion, a familiar grey tinge dusting her cheekbones.

His dad gathered her up in his arms carefully and carried her to her room. His objective when he returned was to tangle himself up in the phone line again searching for the nonexistent transmitter.

Tai fidgeted where he stood, trying to think up a way to get out of the apartment just long enough to make a brief phone call. "Dad?" he spoke up hesitantly.

"Hmm, what is it?" Susumu said in a distracted manner, turning over wire after multicolored wire, peering closing at each individual one.

"So, um, I'm gonna go to my room and play some video games—" Tai said.

"This one!" Susumu shouted, tugging forcefully on a copper wire and ripping it further out of the wall.

All the lights immediately shut off and every electrical device stopped working instananeously.

"Fudge it all!" his dad swore violently.

"I mean, I'll be in my room reading a book by candlelight," Tai rephrased hurriedly.

"Sure, son, that's fine," Susumu said before yelling, "Gotsumon, get me a flashlight! I blew a fuse or something!"

Tai stumbled along in the darkness as best as possible, one hand holding Koromon under his arm and feeling the wall with his other to guide him to the front door. Behind him he heard the startled exclamations and gigantic crash of his dad and Gotsumon as they collided with each other in the inky blackness. Opening the door cast enough light for him to see the coat rack by the entrance and for him to grab his jacket before dashing out.

oOo

"I'm sorry, but we are not allowed to give out information about our employees."

"I don't want information! I just want to talk to Mizuki Kishimoto—"

"Personal phone calls are also not permitted."

"It's an emergency!"

"Are you involved in a dire and life-threatening situation?'

"Uh, no, but—"

"Are you even a family member?"

"Well, no—"

"_Then stop calling this number and wasting my time, kid!"_ screeched the exasperated voice of the person on the other end of the line. "If you're going to make prank phone calls here do it when I'm off-duty!"

They hung up with a resounding _click._

Tai placed the phone back on the receiver with a disgruntled expression. "Well, that could have gone better," he said.

It seemed as if the only way to speak to Mizuki Kishimoto was if he went to the Fuji TV station himself.

It cold and wet and raining. It would probably end up taking most of the day and when he got home, his absence would no doubt have been noticed and he would be punished (but he wasn't sure how his dad could ground him any further than he already had). But avid curiosity over whether there was a connection between the Fuji TV station and the Hikarigaoka Incident overwhelmed him. If the tv station could provide answers, answers to anything on what happened that night four years ago, Tai was willing to accept any form of punishment for disobeying his father.

"Let's go there," he decided out loud.

Perched atop his head, Koromon gurgled in agreement.

"Hey, how about I try teaching you to speak?" Tai said, zipping up his jacket and pulling the hood over his partner before stepping out of the telephone booth and into the pouring rain. "We can start with the alphabet song. It goes like this: a, i, u, e, o, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko…"

It was fun, skipping down the soggy sidewalks, splashing through puddles and singing a song from his early school days with Koromon joining in and badly butchering the syllables. Luckily, by subway, it only took twenty minutes to arrive at their destination. Getting there was the easy part. Getting in… not so much.

"Halt, unidentified human! You are not allowed access past this vicinity!" barked out a Centarumon guarding the front doors to the Fuji TV station.

"Really?" Tai said dryly.

"Authorized personnel or by appointment only. Have you been granted previous admission?" Centarumon interrogated, stomping his left front hoof down on the top of the steps firmly.

"What? Oh, yeah," Tai said quickly. "I'm a reporter for my school's newspaper. We're doing a story on how the inner workings of a television station works. They made an appointment here for me to come today. I'm supposed to meet with Mizuki Kishimoto."

Tai was surprised at how inept he was becoming at lying. The Centarumon appeared contemplative. "Come," the Digimon said turning to the double glass doors which opened automatically as he stepped forward.

Things were beginning to look up, Tai thought. Until he realized he was following the Centarumon to the front desk in the lobby where behind the counter, stood an Andromon at full alert.

His past dealing with an Andromon hadn't gone very well.

"Andromon, are there any reporters from a primary school scheduled for admittance today?" Centarumon asked.

The android Digimon's nerves in the exposed muscle tissue glowed a neon blue as he searched through his memory banks.

"Negative," the Andromon stated crisply, zooming his red eyes in on Tai. "The human has told a fabrication."

A yellow, pulsating energy began forming in Centarumon's mechanical hand as he aimed it at Tai. "Don't move, perpetrator," came the warning.

This wasn't turning out to be Tai's day at all.

A pink blast of bubbles erupted from underneath the hood of his jacket and made contact with Centarumon's arm. They didn't harm the higher-level Digimon any, but they knocked it sideways from its mark with the surprise attack.

Tai seized the opportunity and made a headlong dash to the elevators.

"Halt!" came the ringing cry of Centarumon behind him as he pressed the button for the doors to open.

Thankfully, they were much faster than his school's elevators. Running inside, he punched in several floors into the control panel and frantically thumbing the close button.

"Attention, a perpetrator has infiltrated the building! A perpetrator has infiltrated the building!" Andromon speaking into the intercom was the last thing he heard before the doors slid shut.

"Geez, the guy could have warned me about the hair-triggered security here, ya think," Tai said, clutching his chest in relief at his narrow escape.

Koromon made several irritable-sounding growls in response.

"My thoughts exactly."

oOo

It wasn't as hard to find Mizuki Kishimoto in a huge building that he didn't know his way around in as he imagined. Apparently, since he had mentioned her name to the Centarumon before, she was being assumed as his intended goal and therefore subject for a swat team of Mamemon as bodyguards. Tai simply followed the nearest group he overheard boasting loudly about "protecting their target" and kept a safe distance from them, hugging walls and corners along the way.

He was in luck. He didn't even need to wonder what he should do if the Mamemon got on an elevator. As if some invisible hand of fate was guiding him, he just happened to step off on the correct floor that Mizuki Kishimoto was present on. The Mamemon lead him right to her unawares.

"For the last time, I'm just going to the ladies' room! You don't have to follow me in there!" an irate woman's voice split the air.

"We must maintain a safe perimeter around you! This area is not secure!" the lead Mamemon informed her in a somber, squeaky voice.

"Look, you little cretins," a woman with dark-framed glasses growled as her head rose out of the top of her cubicle as she stood, exposing her chin-length, black hair. "You give me five minutes alone to myself without me tripping over one of you underfoot or trying to type up a report without your annoying little chatterboxes chasing away my concentration, or I give you the full treatment of why human males are scared to death of us females one week out of the month, got it?"

"I'd do what she says if I were you," whispered a fellow co-worker, leaning out of his own cubicle and looking a bit petrified himself.

"Thank you, Ueshima," the woman said, smiling broadly at him, which strangely enough, only seemed to terrify the poor guy even more.

The Mamemon held a quick conference huddled in a small circle and whispering in hushed, conspiratorial tones.

"Very well," the lead Mamemon relented looking extremely displeased. "You have approximately five minutes to answer to your body's biological functions and report directly back to this spot. You are not to exit the building or deviate from this present floor. If you fail to comply with the aforementioned regulation, we will be forced to use more drastic measures to ensure your—"

"Yeah, yeah, no need to throw the book at me, I'll be right back," the woman said stalking off, heading in Tai's direction where he was watching, causing him to duck into a nearby storage closet. "Annoying metal golf-balls…" he heard her mutter under her breath as she rounded the corner.

Tai pushed the door open slightly and peered through the narrow crack. The woman had by-passed bathrooms completely and gone outside onto the enclosed balcony instead, her silhouette pressed dark against the glass.

Looking both ways to make sure the hallway was clear, Tai ran forward, pulled back the balcony door and stepped into place right next to the woman.

"Hmm?" she said taking the cigarette from her lips, momentarily startled by his appearance, exhaling cloud of grey smoke into the air that the rain quickly smothered. "What are you doing here, chibi? I must have missed the 'Take Your Kids To Work Day' memo. Not that I have any, but still, it's never wise to be behind the times at a news station."

"Are you Mizuki Kishimoto?" Tai asked, hoping he had the right person.

The woman paused for a second, blinked once, looked him up and down… then burst out laughing hysterically.

"Wait, _you're_ the 'dangerous threat' that has security running around in circles? Hahaha! And here I was so flattered thinking I had an obscure, obsessed fan or something stalking me! Man, what a let down! Look kid," she said, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "If you're trying to sell some wild story to the media, I'm the wrong girl to go to. I don't know how you even got a hold of my name. I'm the one behind the scenes looking up information to make sure everyone gets their facts straight. You might want to try a news anchor or cameraman next time."

There wasn't any time to spare for introductions. "Hiroaki Ishida sent me," Tai said breathlessly.

The woman seemed to have frozen solid at the name he had mentioned. "What was that… again?" she asked slowly as if she couldn't believe her ears.

"Hiroaki Ishida sent me," Tai repeated. "He told me to tell you to look up the building's security video files of the months of July and August of 1995. And that the answer 'to what you are seeking is what manner of Digimon were present in the network during that time frame'."

The woman stared at him soundlessly for several seconds before finally exploding, "What is _that _supposed to mean?"

"He… he said you'd know what he meant," Tai said feeling sweat collect on his brow.

"Damned Hiroaki, always sending me looking for information with half the picture!" she fumed, blowing thin tendrils of smoke through her nostrils from one long, angry drag on her cigarette. "What building exactly! This one? Another one? And do you know how many days it would take to look through hours and hours of video files are on record for two months!"

"Try August 1st," Tai said hoarsely, feeling his throat constrict.

Mizuki Kishimoto gazed at him in a mixture of mingled horror and pity. "God, kid, were you part of that too?" she asked knowing instantly what the date meant.

Tai nodded silently.

"Like T.K. and Matt," she murmured seeming to make up her mind. With a flick of her wrist, she stubbed her cigarette out in the disposable receptacle. "Right, come with me, chibi."

"Where are we going?" Tai asked, following her back inside and down the hallway.

"Back to my desk before my troupe of nannymon puts my picture on a milk carton," Mizuki Kishimoto said.

"But aren't they looking for me?"

"They're looking for a six foot tall hunchback with bare-wrestling muscles of steel. The rumors of your description that Rocky and Bullwinkle on the ground floor sent out have been greatly exaggerated. They were probably too ashamed to admit the truth that a pipsqueak like you got the better of them." the woman chuckled. "Just follow my lead, okay?"

The Mamemon weren't particularly pleased to see the person they were supposed to be protecting returning in the company of a stranger.

"Identify yourself, human trespasser!" the lead Mamemon ordered upon their arrival, pointing one bolt-tipped, red boxing glove in Tai's direction.

"Now don't go getting your mittens tied up in a knot," Mizuki Kishimoto declared with a roll of her eyes. "This is just my nephew…"

"Tai," Tai all but yelped as the woman jabbed her elbow sharply into his back for him to speak up.

"It's 'Take Your Kids To Work Day', didn't you know?" Mizuki Kishimoto smiled. "But I don't have any, so I thought Tai would enjoy me showing him around the news station. He wants to get into the business when he grows up."

"Where was he when we first were assigned to you then?" the lead Mamemon pressed suspiciously.

"Oh, that's why I went to go look for him. The little dear had wandered off and gotten himself locked in the storage closet!" Mizuki Kishimoto giggled, patting her "nephew" on the shoulder in condolence.

Tai didn't have to fake the look of embarrassed sheepishness that slid over his face. He rather thought the woman was enjoying deceiving the Mamemon far too much.

"If you lot don't mind, I'm just going to show him what I do to earn my paycheck around here," Mizuki Kishimoto said, issuing towards her cubicle and the stack of papers that was currently swamping her desk.

Still suspicious, but not able to come up with a valid reason why not to allow this request, the Mamemon grudgingly complied, taking up a perimeter around the woman's cubicle within a three-feet radius.

"Finally," Mizuki Kishimoto muttered casting one last scathing glare at the back of the Mamemon's round, grey bodies before settling in her chair, her fingertips gliding rapidly over the keyboard.

"What are you doing?" Tai asked going to stand behind her to get a good view of the computer screen.

"Asking my old buddy Chioka a favor. I need access to the security files—specifically the ones on August the 1st. I don't think Hiroaki knew he had transferred to that department or he would have sent you to him instead of me," Mizuki Kishimoto said as she finished typing and sent the message.

They waited for a reply and Tai let his eyes rove over the objects littering the woman's desktop: a half-full mug of coffee, assorted piles of papers with different colored sticky notes attached to them, an overturned stapler, a photograph of four people, two of which Tai recognized…

He was reaching for the picture before he even realized it. It was partially hidden behind an overflowing pencil holder. His wrist was caught by a firm hand before he could touch it.

"Something caught your eye, chibi?"

"That picture…"

"Hmm, this?" Mizuki Kishimoto said picking up the frame so he could see it better.

Two men and one woman in the background were laughing at another man who had been trying to set up the camera on its stand, but it had taken the picture before he was ready to regroup with the others. Tai recognized Mizuki Kishimoto as the woman. Next to her were two guys, probably fellow news coworkers. The man who had been trying to set up the camera was no other than Captain Ishida. The man's hand was frozen forever stretching out towards the camera as he was caught with a startled expression on his face no doubt from the flash that had occurred. He looked younger in the photograph. The wrinkles and frown lines were absent from his face and his eyes didn't appear as haunted as they had that day at the Self Defense Forces' meeting.

"We were all so much happier then," Mizuki Kishimoto murmured, her voice so low that Tai barely heard it.

When Tai glanced at her, the woman was furiously cleaning her glasses with the sleeve of her blouse, her lips pressed in a tight line. Looking back down at the photograph, Tai blinked as he did a double take. They were Digimon in the picture too. A Tortomon's head was peering from between the two men's shoulders in the background while a Kamemon was waving one clawed hand in the air, the other slung around a very grumpy-looking Kiwimon. And tucked to the very left side, squatting low with one knee to the ground so he could fit into the picture was a Leomon.

_Partners,_ Tai thought. _They're the humans' partners._

"But where's Wizardmon?" he whispered with a cold chill creeping down his back.

"What are you talking about, kid?" Mizuki Kishimoto spat harshly, snatching the photograph out of his hands and putting it back in its former resting place. "That_… thing_… Hiroaki's bonded to now will never be _half_ the partner Leomon was!"

oOo

"_Losing your partner can drive you insane…"_

oOo

"_You're not the only one who has endured a personal tragedy in the Hikarigaoka Incident. Those other kids have too, as well as myself and my sons. You're not alone in your suffering... in more ways than one," Captain Ishida stated gazing purposefully at the sleeping Koromon…_

oOo

_"Hey, kid, you still here?" Mantarou Inoue greeted Tai. His gaze drifted to Koromon who was nestled up against his side. "Is that your new partner? See, there was no need for kicking up a fuss. A bond's a bond no matter which way you look at it. Any Digimon will do, so long as they keep you from going insane."_

_"You don't know anything about it!" Matt shouted, half-rising from his bed. His face, splotchy red from the tears he had shed before, was turning a vivacious shade of puce. "Don't talk about things you don't understand!"_

oOo

"What ha—" Tai started to say.

"If Hiroaki hasn't told you about it, then it's certainly not my place to," Mizuki Kishimoto declared with a tone so resolute that it announced the end of that line of conversation.

A message popped up on the computer.

**I don't know what's going on, Mizuki, but whatever you do, don't get caught or it'll be both our necks.**

**-Chioka**

Attached to the message was a folder.

"You might want to sit down, chibi. We could be here until closing time if we're lucky," Mizuki Kishimoto said.

"_If_… we're lucky?" Tai repeated incredulously.

"Yeah, we might have to pull an all-nighter," the woman stated with a wry grin as she opened the folder and it took a full five minutes for the video file list to load properly.

Tai sat down before his legs gave out from shock.

oOo

Koromon was busy singing badly mutilated notes of the alphabet song and Tai was listlessly humming along. It had been five hours since he had arrived at the Fuji TV Station and delivered the captain's message. Mizuki Kishimoto had been sifting through countless numbers of security videos with nothing to show for it except grey shadows under her eyes and Tai running what seemed like endless cups of coffee to her, having to pass through the distrustful eyes of the Mamemon each time he made a trip to the office's kitchen.

"You do realize that this 'manner of Digimon present in the network during that time frame' might not even be on these files?" Mizuki Kishimoto yawned tiredly. "It might be another date after all."

"No, it's on there," Tai said confidently and was surprised that he actually believed his own words. It had to be: this connection between the Fuji TV Station and the Hikarigoka Incident. It had to be no other date other than that fateful day, August the 1st of 1995.

"Whatever you say, chibi. This sure beats researching whether consuming natto beans reduces the likelihood of blood clotting any time though," the woman chuckled as a thrill of perverse glee that she was abandoning an undesirable workload shot through her.

"I don't know about blood clots, but it sure reduces your appetite and kills your taste buds," Tai mumbled under his breath to Koromon, his stomach rolling at the thought of his mother's protein shakes this morning. He hadn't been hungry all day since.

Koromon crooned happily in remembrance and drooled slightly as he nudged Tai's pockets for food.

"Sorry, this is all we got," Tai said dumping the confectionery bowl of peppermints Mizuki Kishimoto had given him on the floor in front of the Digimon.

Koromon let out an ecstatic gurgle and swiped up the whole pile with his long tongue into his mouth.

"Hey, don't eat the plastic!" Tai cried, trying to pry open his partner's jaws with both hands.

Behind him, Mizuki Kishimoto muffled a surprised shriek and jumped out of her chair.

"Find something?" Tai asked excitedly, springing to his feet in a flash.

The woman's face had gone pale, making the shadows under her eyes more prominent. Her glasses had slipped to the tip of her nose and she was breathing heavily as if she had run a ten mile course. Her hands lying against her side were twitching involuntarily.

Frightened, she was frightened.

"Kid, I still have no idea what connection this has to do with Hikarigaoka… but I think I found our Digimon present in the network," she rasped out.

With one shaking hand that she placed over the mouse, she moved the arrow back one minute on the current video's time line and pressed 'play'.

It was quick. So quick that Tai almost didn't catch it. In fact, he wouldn't have if he hadn't been looking for something to be there. And when it did appear, only half of its proportion was shown. It crawled across the bottom part of the screen so swiftly, he only caught a glimpse of purple, spindly legs and a giant green eye swiveling madly, but that was enough.

"Is that a—"

"Parasimon," Mizuki Kishimoto finished grimly.

"I… I don't understand," Tai said bitter disappointment welling up inside him.

He had expected a clearer answer of some kind. Somehow, he had thought that upon seeing the Digimon present in the network, pieces of the puzzle would fall into place, but he was even more confused than before.

"How was a Parasimon able to infiltrate the network? We have firewalls for that," Mizuki Kishimoto was muttering to herself. "What was it doing here anyway? No… no why was this video never brought to security's attention? Did they not catch it? But, you can see it, you can _see _it—_shit!"_

Tai jumped at the woman's violent cursing. "Wha—"

"It's a trap!" she swore hurriedly closing the file and deleting the folder. "They left the video as bait and we were stupid enough to take it!"

"Who?"

"They let a Parasimon in on purpose, didn't they?" Mizuki Kishimoto breathed sounding close to tears. "Just another part of their precious war game no doubt. Oh god, poor Hiroaki… he must have figured it out somehow… I didn't realize, none of us… Chioka! I have to warn him—he sent me the video files!" Frantically, she began typing out a message.

"You have to tell me what's going on!" Tai shouted angrily. She knew. The woman knew something. The sight of the Parasimon had obviously jarred her senses and made her see a deeper picture, a picture he was not able to comprehend.

"Listen, kid," the woman said, whirling on him and gripping tightly by the elbows. "Did you tell anyone your last name here? _Anyone?_" she demanded.

"N-no!" Tai said, soundly shaken now.

"You get out of this building this instant, do you understand?" she ordered. "Don't tell anyone your full name or that you met me or that you came here at all."

"But why?"

"Because I'm going to disappear soon," Mizuki Kishimoto said a resigned smile as if she had already accepted the fate only she knew was coming. "And I don't want to drag you down with me."

"I don't understand," Tai repeated.

"Just tell me one thing, please," the woman said. "Do you know T.K. and Matt?" Tai nodded slowly. "Are they… doing well?" she asked as if it were her last request.

The woman's eyes were overly moist, her face shining with a desperation to know the truth. Tai didn't think she would be satisfied with the polite answer of "yes".

"T.K.'s a nice kid who fools people with his cuteness then manipulates them and Matt's just a stuck-up jerk," Tai stated with a shrug.

Mizuki Kishimoto laughed at his open honesty, holding onto the back of her chair for support.

"I guess they're getting along fine then," she said. "Thank you, chibi. Strange, eh? I wanted something more exciting to look into than natto beans and I got it. Be careful what you wish for. It's not your fault for what happens, alright? Know that much."

Tai tried to speak, tried to ask what she meant, what she knew, but his voice died in his throat.

"Go, kid. Now, while you still have time," Mizuki Kishimoto urged. "And don't come back. _Ever. _They… they ought to be coming for me soon."

A voice in his head was screaming at him to stay with her and face the anonymous "they". To not run away. To find a concrete answer. To face the enemy head on… but Tai found himself picking up Koromon and walking out of the woman's cubicle instead, ignoring the voice completely.

It hadn't won four years ago. Why should it win now?

His feet felt like two blocks of lead with each step he took. Pass the Mamemon, down the hallway, down the stairwell, and out the back exit.

_Coward, you coward,_ the voice chanted cruelly. _Like before…_

Memories tried to surface, but this time Tai pushed them back. He didn't want to look at them.

_Coward…_

"Shut up," Tai whispered, his head bowed low. "Just shut up."

For once, Koromon's presence in his arms was not comforting, merely a guilty reminder.

And the wetness trailing down his cheeks was caused by the still-falling rain.

oOo

The subway was crowded more than usual that evening, but that was to be expected by the outside elements. It was grey and damp and the streets were being flooded with puddles as the rain steadily fell. Anyone would want to escape that sort of weather by riding in a dry, underground train.

Tai found himself packed in the subway car like a sardine in a can, pressed close against an elderly grandmother loaded down by shopping bags and boy around his age gripping a duffel bag, the hood of his soaked sweatshirt pulled tight over his face to shield him from the rain like Tai's own jacket hood was.

Tai wondered what had happened to Mizuki Kishimoto and felt his stomach knot up. Dully, he stared out of the window to watch the rain pour down. It was really late. His dad was going to kill him.

_Kill…_

"_That… _thing_… Hiroaki's bonded to now will never be _half_ the partner Leomon was!"_

Wizardmon wasn't Captain Ishida's original partner.

"_Losing your partner can drive you insane…"_

_Coward…_

Suddenly, it was all too much, everything: the photograph, the Parasimon, Mizuki Kishimoto and her warning, the confusion of not knowing, the fear of the unknown, the guilt from four years ago. It started in the depths of his stomach and worked its way up until all of it came out in an overwhelming rush that he emptied in the subway car's wastebasket.

Later, Tai blamed it on his mother's protein shakes that his stomach had never fully digested.

In any event, it led to a rather surprising situation.

"TAICHI KAMIYA!"

Tai lifted a weary head at the accusing exclamation and saw the boy who he had been next standing over him, hands on hips and feet apart, his sweatshirt hood falling back to reveal a head of short coppery hair that framed around the face that was turning red in rage, crimson-brown eyes glaring a hole through him.

It was the familiar glare that jolted his memory and now Tai recognized him.

Well, her to be more exact.

"TWO TIMES! _TWO TIMES!" _Sora Takenouchi cried practically spitting blue fury, pointing a violently shaking finger in his direction.

What? Tai looked down and dimly realized then that it hadn't been waste basket that his hands were clutched around or that he had thrown up in.

Oh.

Déjà vu had a cruel sense of irony.

_To Be Continued…_

**A/N: **Yes, Tai threw up in Sora's hat again, buwahahahaha! XD I know that that was something only the dub put into Digimon the Movie, but on rare occasions, dubs can be more funnier than the original (even if not needed). I couldn't help it! Fufufu!

So, I think I can safely say that if Sora is on the scene now, what are the odds of the other girl Digidestineds being in this story too, hmm? Honestly, thinking I've offed them—shame on you guys! They're part of the show's charm!

This chapter is twice the length I usually do. I wanted to make up for a three month hiatus and to move the plot along. Oh my, what happened to Leomon? How did Hiroaki meet Wizardmon? What is the significance of the Parasimon in the network? Who is this "they" Mizuki Kishimoto spoke of? You'll have to continue reading to find out.

I had Tai teach Koromon the Japanese alphabet song instead of English, because hey, they're in _Japan_. You can hear the one he was singing on youtube. Just type in "Japanese alphabet song" and it should be the first video that pops up. The account is called Letslearnjapanese. I've been told it sounds like Naruto singing it. Personally, I think it sounds like China from Hetalia, lol. It's a very catchy tune nonetheless.

I made the date of the Hikarigaoka Incident the same date as when the kids get pulled into the Digital World on purpose. I figured since the date was pretty significant in the anime and we are never told the date for what happened at Highton View Terrace, that it would neat to use that one. And maybe something *else* significant may occur in this AU on that date in the future...

Thank you, Hyfy, for telling me Hiroaki's coworkers names and thank you everyone else who has read this fic and reviewed (and even those who haven't, you wonderful lurkers you XP). I hope you have enjoyed reading this! Please continue to review and share your thoughts. I love hearing what you liked best and it's the only reward a fanfic author gets. Favoriting and story alerting my story are nice too, but I like knowing what my readers think and feel. It makes me feel as if I'm actually connecting with you guys; even if it's just one word or a whole page long, I appreciate each and every one. If you have any questions just ask, and I'll try to answer to the best of my capabilities without giving anything away. Thank you!^^

P.S. Does Tai's dad rock or what? Yay or nay!


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